I was in Inverness all of last week...

and the interesting thing is it really does seem too close to call now. Everywhere I travelled around the towns in the early part of last week, there were 'Yes' and 'No thanks' signs tied to pretty much each lampost. Having a conversation with locals two years ago, they said the Yes vote would mainly come from the central belt, but the Boarders, Lowlands and certainly Highlands would be mostly in the No camp. I think that was pretty much true 24 months ago, but it's more of an even split now in the Highlands... and as the majority of the "Yes" support remains in the central-belt, you can see why and where this increasing support for Independence is coming from now. The long-undecideds are starting to nail their colours to the mast too.

British politicians have to come to terms with the fact that this was never ever going to be a political question. The question of a country's Independence to their people has nothing whatsoever to do with politics. Policies and politics come afterwards in the fall out over a decision of Independence. I actually think it could be too late for the 'No' campaign now. Voters will not be swayed by promises of more devolved power from Westminster. Balls seems to think that by Scots choosing to vote 'Yes' is a protest vote against the unpopular policies of a coalition government. Wrong, Edward. It's about the pride and long history of a nation, and over 300 years of interference from south of their boarder. That's the argument the "Yes" campaign has centered around, rather than the details of political and economic logistics. It's no wonder the lack of charisma and promises of more or less of the same from the UK, from the "No" campaign, have uninspired and fallen on deaf ears.

However, the biggest trouble for the "No" campaign now is that this has become an operation to save the Labour Party. A Yes vote will remove Scottish Labour MPs from Westminster, and by removing their substantial voted support, will effectively obliterate the Party from ever having the majority support to govern again. That's why Darling, Brown, Miliband, Prescott, Balls, and other English and Welsh Labour MPs are touring every square inch of Scotland between now and voting day.

The most interesting and telling thing for me being in Scotland last week, is that by yesterday when I travelled home, a lot of the same "No thanks" signs that I'd seen on lamposts when I'd arrived, had been torn down. Suddenly I was seeing a lot more Yes than No.

Interesting times ahead...

Posted By: Jim Nasium on September 8th 2014 at 11:39:42

Message Thread

Reply to Message

In order to add a post to the WotB Message Board you must be a registered WotB user.

If you are not yet registered then please visit the registration page. You should ensure that their browser is setup to accept cookies.

Log in