Scotland Cries "Freedom"

The cat is well and  truly out of the bag, and fevered debate (marked by a fair bit of cross border vitriol) is now underway about Scotland's proposed referendum on 'Independence'.  I have no way of knowing what the decision will be, and in truth no particular preference. My personal belief is that in the long term, both Scotland and the UK will both ultimately become smaller places if a split occurs, but that in the short term, Scotland may prosper.

I do however have a view about the proposed referendum, which is that while I am English and also British, and I do believe we are better and stronger together, I also respect the right of the Scottish people to have a vote on independence. However, being independent should mean being independent, and not simply picking and choosing which parts of the union you want to keep if you lose the main vote (aka 'Devo Max') .

You just can't have it both ways .... it must be all or nothing. Not 'oh, lets just have a fall back of even more devolution', and then ask about full a full split again in five years or so. Just make a decision and live with it.

Alex Salmond plays hardball like Drake.

However, there are some other consequences that will make me laugh. The main one is that the real architects of 'Scottish devolution' and the fact that its ended in a referendum, the Labour Party (See Brown and the Scottish Claim of Right), is likely to be a two time loser.

1. In Scotland, they will be the biggest losers in future polls, despised by unionists, and swamped by the 'victorious' SNP who will likely hold power for a generation.
2. In England  they will be the biggest losers in future polls, despised by unionists, and swamped by the Tories who will likely hold power for a generation (Labour has only once won a majority in England).  

It would be ironic if Tony Blair's gut feeling that this would end in tears if he allowed devolution was proved right, and all those 'Scots Labour strategists' who said it was never going to be anything but a Labour Party stronghold forever, were wrong. Generations in the wilderness would be the least punishment they would deserve for the destruction of the United Kingdom and the Labour Party..