Yet another poll recently showed a decline in the predicted No vote and a surge in support for Scottish independence. Suddenly we are all terrified of the beast that has brought misery to island peoples before – Partition. We should not be afraid or ashamed for using this word but this is exactly what a Yes vote would bring, the scandal is the sudden sense of urgency from the Westminster village and it tells the story we all know too well.
Career politicians in London have never been so out of touch with the British people and so unwilling to fight for a United Kingdom none of them believe in. The Union flag is a fantastic decoration to any sporting or business event the political class frequent at our expense, but it is staggering that a century after the UK fought for the freedom of Europe and over 15 years since the Good Friday agreement a Conservative and Unionist Prime Minister has put such little effort in fighting for the UK.
The SNP are keen to show England and Scotland as different countries, but the reality is very different. What we are seeing in this separation referendum is that no one seriously thinks being an EU member can leads to independence. The YES campaign’s success is part the same rejection of the conceited political class we see in England and Wales with the rise of UKIP which You Gov suggests is polling at 18%. This puts UKIP in serious contention to win a seat in the European parliament, something unthinkable even six months ago.
Anyone familiar with the Scottish political scene will draw one of three conclusions about this year’s Euro elections: that they are dwarfed by the Independence referendum campaign, that they are the most important ever as Scotland’s last chance to show real public opinion over the future of the UK or both.
The YES campaign has made incredible efforts to organise various groups around the concept of independence rather than around the SNP itself and this perceived openness to the political direction of Scotland has been extremely effective. This has contrasted sharply with the Westminster parties who, having excluded UKIP from the Better Together group, have relied on a negative campaign of dismissing the SNP’s claims without offering a positive vision for the UK.
The SNP, not unreasonably, have called this Project Fear. Recent attacks on UKIP in England by the political class have uncanny parallels. Osborne’s assertion that there will be no currency union because the three Westminster party leaders have said so has backfired predictably and left the No side as a cabal of the rusty crusty Scottish political elite like Gordon Brown, Alistair Darling and Menzies Campbell who are both viciously dull and more worryingly unable to project a positive vision of the UK.
Poll after poll has seen support for partition…oops…,”Independence within Europe” strongest among men and C2DE voters, the same ones flocking to UKIP in the North of England. A shortage of housing, rising fuel prices and tax being wasted by politicians in far away cities is on their minds, not Trident or whether or not we will still e able to watch Dr. Who.
Many Nationalists are seeing the SNP fall apart over our future in the EU and are angry about being denied a referendum on Europe. They are turning to UKIP as are many Scottish Conservatives who see the party of Cameron and Davidson as having left them behind. UKIP takes votes from both unionists and nationalists alike…and that is why excluding them from the debate has been so disastrous for Better Together or maybe that should be Better Late Than Never….
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