Thursday 18 September 2014

Scotland!

Referendum day has come and I am listening to the BBC World Service running commentary on what is happening. It is odd really listening to this event taking place, shows how little I knew of Scottish politics in the UK.  It appears that the turnout is high or very high more than 88% in rural and suburban areas whereas in the Cities the turnout is much lower around 75%. Scotland is hoping to have as high a turnout as in the Quebec referendum of 1995 which was 93.5%. It looks likely they will achieve that given the importance of the vote and the question. The big story tonight is how incredible the voter turnout has been. Usually during British general elections the turnout is around 65% the numbers tonight are very high in comparison.


The population of Scotland is small at 5.2 million Scots, somewhat smaller than the population of the City of Toronto. This does not count all the Scottish diaspora around the world, who cannot vote in this referendum. Scotland is portrayed as more left leaning and liberal than Britain. Because of its small population it cannot influence Parliament in Westminster and has little say in the budget. Scottish Labour is seen as unable to disassociate itself from the free-market and austerity policies of the moment, which makes it unpopular. By tomorrow the results either for or against independence, one thing appear certain the old certainties of the past will be dead and gone. The consequence for Cameron and the Conservatives are huge, it would probably mean the government will fall and Cameron will have no choice but to resign. As for Labour it will also be a shock and their future will be also uncertain. No Prime Minister wants to be remembered as the one who lost the Union. However watching the vote results come in Scotland appears divided, there are strong opinions in either camp.


Either way Britain tomorrow morning will be a different country. What I like about the coverage is how there is talk now even before the final results are in of change and how Westminster needs to change, respect for the aspirations of the Scots. It will be interesting to see how this evolves between now and 2016. What is also impressive is the level of respectful dialogue between people on either camp, except maybe for Ukip. There is none of the insults and bad language and immature attitudes we so often find here in Canada when there is differences of opinion after elections.

I would agree with commentators that Canadians and people in Quebec all have a lot to learn on how to run a referendum on such questions, much more mature and respectful in this case.




5 comments:

  1. Yes, it's been a huge shakeup and things will never be the same for the political elite in Westminster. That said, had I been given a vote, I wouldn't have known whether to say yea or nay - too much unclear in the future, too many plausible, socially engaged voices on the yes side. Abstentions could have been powerful in themselves.

    But the main thing is that Scotland has got the extra powers it wanted and the discussion will go on. Maybe we'll be more engaged as a nation when the general election comes round.

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  2. I'm pleased by the outcome because I have always been fond of the Tudor/Stuart period in history though I admit that is a weak reason to stay in the UK. Unfortunately I don't know enough about the real issues to have an educated opinion

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    1. The main issue or one of the main issues is that Scots felt that they could not influence Parliament in Westminster. Scotland has a small pop 5.2 million. Also a lot of people were not happy with the right wing agenda of PM Cameron in London. Austerity politics has its limits and Cameron did not appear to understand that, he is a bit like our Harper in Ottawa. There are of course other historical reasons and some are very emotional.

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  3. I am pleased as I like the notion of unity; the world needs to band together not split into further fractions. This world needs more cooperation not more nations.
    I'm one of Mr. Lennon's acolytes.

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    1. Well in fact there are now 39 countries where a Nationalist group is making noises about separation. It seems that in Canada and Québec the idea for now anyways is dead. But for any populist politician it is a seductive idea to built one's career.

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