Stay with me, darling, and I’ll let you keep some of your money
I had a friend once, whose husband took her to a really rough council estate, and said, ‘Without me, this is where you would have ended up.’ Shortly afterwards she left him, and last I saw, she was very happy, and earning more than he was.
So, when the campaign for Scottish independence started, did the marvellously savvy English hot foot it over the border to try to woo the Scots with a box of chocs and a bunch of flowers? No. They sent George Osborne, who stamped about the country threatening that if Scotland left, dire things would happen. The entire nation would probably end up in the workhouse. Nobody in Europe would speak to them. They would have no friends and no money.
Well, that worked.
Imagine the surprise in Westminster, when the polls began to show that, hey, the Scots might really want to move out, buy a nice apartment with their oil-fired trust fund, and start going doon the toon on their own. It was as if Samantha Cameron had threatened to leave No 10 in a fur coat with a leopard on a chain.
In the beginning, politicians down South were so complacent, that they rejected the SNP offer of a third alternative on the ballot paper, of Scotland having greater powers, without actually leaving the union.
It’s only now, when it’s almost too late, that David Cameron is standing in the garden and singing Nessun Dorma up at the Scots window. Only now that he’s saying he loves the union more than his party. I don’t know how true that is. There’s plenty of good arguments for both sides of the debate, and to be frank, if I had a vote, I don’t know how I’d use it. I’m Scottish and, like many people in Scotland, my heart would be for independence, while my head would tell me to stay.
But Westminster attitudes haven’t helped. There is a lot of suspicion in Scotland that Cameron is trying to get them drunk on rhetoric now, just so that he can screw them as usual afterwards.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Broadway_Rose_1922
Writer's notebook 
Well, now we know. Frankly I like Billy Connolley’s attitude in his ‘World Tour of Scotland’ series.
It makes good sense given the size, location, and shape of mainland Britain for it to be one political entity. But I still like the Confederation Of Equals idea, with binding referendums overriding anything coming out of Parliament. A Scotland-England-Wales thing should work, with a simple majority setting the pace … and the right to secede at any time should the people of any member ‘state’ desire to.
It’s complicated only by the understandable what’s-in-it-for-me attitude of almost everyone alive: so, how best to invoke and yoke that, constructively?
Posted by Argus | October 15, 2014, 7:02 pmOh but think of the bureaucracy that would turn into. In any case, once politicians get into power they don’t think that voters are capable of making the right decisions, and that they have to take charge to save us from ourselves….
Posted by elainecanham | October 15, 2014, 10:35 pmI am all for political power devolving universally to the smallest viable unit desiring it.
So if the Scots go totally independent, good on them … but what’s to stop them forming a confederation with the rest of Britain to serve common interests? All have to look beyond hubris and history. Blind ‘patriotism’ is a ridiculous meotion, simply another tool of control. Not good.
But I said ‘confederation’, not federation. Big difference. Perhaps Wales next, Cornwall, Durham, others? Why not?
I read somewhere that the Scots will seek to join the EU ASAP. Not good, pull the head out of one noose and promptly slip it into another …
Posted by Argus | September 17, 2014, 9:30 pmI don’t think promptly is the word. Scotland wd have to apply, and each of the EU 28 wd hv a veto on it joining, and countries like Spain are not happy about Scotland setting an example of independence to places such as Catalonia. It’s so complicated tht apparently the EU politicians are crapping themselves at the idea of Scotland voting yes.
Posted by elainecanham | September 17, 2014, 9:48 pmInteresting post. Well, we’ll know one way or the other tomorrow. Thanks for following me.
Posted by Carole Parkes | September 17, 2014, 5:03 pmThanks for dropping by! We live in interesting times. I think the returning officer expects to have the definitive result by Friday morning.
Posted by elainecanham | September 17, 2014, 5:09 pmWhichever way it goes, Cameron is now, and always going to be the Prime Minister who wrecked/nearly wrecked the Union by his lack of foresight. Something good might come of it.
Posted by Jools | September 17, 2014, 4:20 pmYou mean, he might walk out of the tent and not come back??
Posted by elainecanham | September 17, 2014, 4:27 pmWell, it worked out nicely for us, I can’t see the Scots doing much worse. Politicians have no real grasp of where the peoples’ minds really are, and have no inclination to find out. They surround thenselves with yes men, and take care of their own. Go Scotland. Mother England my ass– Dump that tea right in the harbor!!! Meet Cornwallis at Yorktown!!!
I might be a tad prejudiced.
Posted by naptimethoughts | September 17, 2014, 2:40 pmA tad, maybe, but you do make me laugh. One of the verses of the National Anthem, not very often sung goes like this: Lord grant that Marshal Wade /May by thy mighty aid /Victory bring. May he sedition hush,/ And like a torrent rush,/ Rebellious Scots to crush./God save the Queen!
Posted by elainecanham | September 17, 2014, 2:56 pmJust out of interest, if California, say, or Texas, voted to leave the union, what would be your attitude?
Posted by elainecanham | September 17, 2014, 2:58 pmYou know, that has been an issue with all the crazies we seem to have garnered over the past several years. My attitude is, if they want to go, let them. It’s Texas that has the biggest group. If they want to be their own country, and deal with Mexico on their own, and lose the backing of the federal government I say see ya later, but only after everyone who wants to get out of there before it happened, got out. Texas is different than Scotland. If not backed by the feds, it’s going to get dangerous. Fast.
Posted by naptimethoughts | September 17, 2014, 6:17 pmWell, I don’t know anything about Texas, so I can’t comment, but so far nobody in Scotland has said they want to leave because they hate the English. Just hope, if its a yes vote, it goes ok. Using my head, I’m not sure it would be.
Posted by elainecanham | September 17, 2014, 6:32 pmThat’s a really creepy verse, Elaine. God save the Queen– We mean it maaaaaan
Posted by naptimethoughts | September 17, 2014, 6:20 pmIt might not be, but if it’s the peoples will, then so be it. If they want to swim in the deep end, let them try. Time will tell, but if England tries to stand in their way, things will get as ugly as Texas and Mexico. If this whole mess is on Cameron, then things will change with a new Prime Minister. The one thing I’ve learned about politics is that it’s a game of flip flop. Nothing ever stays the same, peoples views shift left and right, and new blood makes new policy.Unless you live here, then there is no policy made, ever.
Posted by naptimethoughts | September 17, 2014, 7:35 pmWell, we’ll know on Friday. Interesting times.
Posted by elainecanham | September 17, 2014, 8:08 pmThey are that. It’s an amazing time to be alive. Even here, where our congress has done absolutely nothing in nearly 8 years except block legislation, it’s an amazing thing to see. Everything is new.
Posted by naptimethoughts | September 17, 2014, 9:44 pmElaine, love the post. It usually takes drastic measures to make them (men or those in power) understand we mean business. However, by that time it is often too late. History has shown, overestimating ones position and underestimating others, doesn’t end well.
Thanks for stopping by the Cow Pasture. I appreciate the Like.
Posted by Sheila | September 17, 2014, 2:21 pmThe trouble is, there are an awful lot of people in Scotland who are not entirely sure what to do, but they’re just hacked off with being taken for granted.
Posted by elainecanham | September 17, 2014, 2:51 pmSeems to be a universal problem.
Posted by Sheila | September 17, 2014, 2:54 pm🙂
Posted by elainecanham | September 17, 2014, 2:56 pmThis has been a monumental screw-up from start to finish and Cameron has much to answer for. I just hope the Scots have the good sense to stick with the Union anyway, and negotiate that third option after the fact. The insanity that is likely to prevail on a Yes outcome – IMHO – will disadvantage us all, on both sides of the border. It’s very frustrating to have an opinion on a crucial political matter which affects me and everyone else in the whole of the current United Kingdom, and not be able to express it via the ballot box. Makes me realise how women must have felt before we/they got the vote.
Posted by Jools | September 17, 2014, 11:11 amYes, I know what you mean about feelings of powerlessness, but what gets me most, as I say, is the attitude of Westminster politicians and their complacency.
Posted by elainecanham | September 17, 2014, 1:13 pmNot the first time politicians have been justifiably accused of complacency. They will never learn, and it costs us, every time.
Posted by Jools | September 17, 2014, 2:26 pmDoesn’t it, just? And if Scotland votes no, they’re going to crow, so much.
Posted by elainecanham | September 17, 2014, 2:52 pmIt, presumably, will be the end, and it must be, of the Union Jack,
Posted by Bruce Goodman | September 17, 2014, 10:38 amyes, that makes me feel a bit odd.
Posted by elainecanham | September 17, 2014, 10:52 am