A PROMINENT Nationalist has called on Alex Salmond to abandon plans for a referendum in 2010 because of the economic crisis.
In the New Statesman, the media commentator and academic Rob Brown, a former media editor at Scotland on Sunday and a member of the SNP, argues that the financial meltdown has exposed weaknesses in the Scottish economy and prevailing attitudes among the Scottish population
Oh dear, dissention in the separatist ranks; which is exactly why now (or as soon as is possible) is the time to call their bluff and give them their referendum worded exactly as they want it. The real potential is there to wipe the grim off Alex's face and more importantly, bury Scottish nationalism as a potent political force probably forever; are there none in the Unionist Establishment brave enough to grab this golden opportunity?
* The title of the post is a quote from which play?
NB: As soon as The New Statesman deigns to put the article online, I'll link it; in the meantime enjoy the cybernats in full, uninhibited flow in The Scotsman's comment section.
3 comments:
Lady Macbeth if I recall correctly.
A referendum killing Scottish nationalism forever? I'm not so optimistic.
Labour are down, it'll be a long time before the Tories make a resurgence in Scotland and the Lib Dems are currently up shit creek. The SNP will be a significant political force for a good while yet, independence referendum defeat or none.
What a referendum will do is to suggest that there is a moral case for Scottish independence and that holding referendums on the matter is justified - indeed, it would suggest there is some sort of 'right' to them. Alex Salmond says an independence referendum would be 'once in a generation' (read: about 20 years, apparently) whilst other prominent members of his party would rather have a second one even sooner. The 'neverendum' situation is far from unrealistic in this context.
Allow one, and I don't think Scotland will ever get over the current obsession with constitutional politics and will become the next Northern Ireland.
Chekov,
Yes, spot on!
DG
Allow one, and I don't think Scotland will ever get over the current obsession with constitutional politics and will become the next Northern Ireland.
And what's the likely result of the alternative? A drip-drip road to further separation, fuelled by the black propaganda that "London" is denying the "people" their right to decide on their own constitutional future.
A referendum would mean that the SNP would have to put up the facts rather than the spin they're palming off the public with at the minute. And with the facts in the public domain, there's only going to be one result. A resounding defeat in the referendum would, I'm sure, relegate the SNP again back to the political backwaters and would give the moral justification to the Unionist majority to ensure that such a poll would be aone-off and not a regular occurence.
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