I know I've been banging on a bit about this and I'm probably getting on people's nerves. There is no "but", that's simply a statement of fact! I shall now bang on a bit more!
Now I know I have only recently embraced Independence after a life long aversion to it and I've detailed my journey in the previous posts but I didn't simply arrive at this decision on a whim. One thing I have been asked by a few people was to explain what prompted me to change. I'm not setting myself up as the poster-boy for switchers as I am certainly not alone, but I will go into a little more detail about the specific thing that eventually convinced me that I was on the wrong path.
I've touched upon the fact that I slowly became aware of the bias in the media and the lies of the Better Together campaign, this was a gradual thing that started to make me question my position. I used to take as truth the facts and statements I read in the news, I've always known the tabloids were full of lies so I would check and double check anything I read against several sources, preferably broadsheets before I would believe it. If something appeared in the Daily Mail and no-where else it's clearly bullshit but if you find it on the BBC website as well then it must be true, right? But over time I started to realise that there was another layer of the media that reported things that the BBC and other mainstream outlets simply ignored. And now, more than at any time in the past, Social Media is playing a massive part in the way in which people get their information and interact with the campaign. It is in this area that the Yes Campaign are doing a better job of getting their positive message across.
A friend of mine came away with a perfect summary of the campaign last night; "Yes groups post information. No groups post pictures of Alex Salmon made up to look like Hitler" and this is absolutely accurate. When I was arguing in favour of the Union I was on the No websites but I also looked in on the Yes boards in an effort to "know your enemy". This was where I started to learn things and noticed the difference in approach between the two opposing sides of the campaign. At one point I took myself off of all Yes sites because I could tell I was becoming convinced by their facts, information and verifiable links to independent sources! How very dare they attack my long held beliefs with the truth!!
The "us and them" nature of the debate has really got to me and it continues to do so, it is not necessary or in any way helpful. I really don't see the need to demonise your opponents and make it personal. Don't vote Yes because Yes voters are nasty people!
But this was a very slow burn, it happened over time, the turning point for me was when I realised the following.
When Labour were in government things weren't so bad, I voted labour so I was happy with the way things were, when the Tories came to power things very quickly went to shit. I hadn't voted for The Tories and I disagree with almost all of their policies, you probably do too. But the thing that I suddenly realised was that although Labour got in, it was nothing to do with me and it was nothing to do with Scotland. At that time Scotland traditionally voted Labour so if the rest of the UK agree then we end up with the government we voted for but in 2010 they didn't so we got a Tory/Lib Dem government. This was the metaphorical straw that broke the allegorical camel's back. Neither you or I have any say in which government is elected, it's completely left to chance. If the rest of the Union vote for a party you like them you are in luck, if they do not you'll be stuck with whoever they choose and you have NO say, you have NO voice. You are completely powerless to change that! Now the Tories could conceivably get voted out next year and our lives and the lives of those who are currently suffering under their austerity measures could improve. They might get better. It's just your luck though, there's nothing you can do to influence that.
And this is why I decided enough was enough. You might not like The SNP, I sure don't but whichever party you vote for in Scotland, they will still have to operate within the confines of whatever government is in power in Westminster, wouldn't you like to change that? If you don't like SNP, vote them out. If you don't like The Tories, cross your fingers and hope for the best.
And just to back up my claim above here's a picture of David Cameron made up to look like Hitler.
Just kidding. Here are some facts. The figures were pulled from Wikipedia and the UK government website, the graphic was produced by Wings Over Scotland. The links to these sources are at the bottom of the page.
The table above shows the results of the Scottish electorate's votes versus the rest of the UK electorate's. You can probably guess which way it went each time.
The table below shows a comparison of the results of every election from 1945 with the Scottish votes and without. See the massive difference?
It's not an inferiority complex and it's not about having a chip on your shoulder, it's a simple case of mathematics. Scotland's population in 2011 was 5,254,800, London's was 7,825,200 (according to the Office of National Statistics). You see where the problem lies. England simply has more people than the other parts of the UK so we will always be subject to whatever choices they make. Either you can live with that or you would like to do something about it. That's your choice. Self-determination sounds very "Nationalist" and "Bravehearty" but when it comes down to it this is the real choice you have to make.
The question should really be "Should Scotland be allowed to elect a government that represents it's people?" I would say the answer is Yes.
If the answer is No then you will get whatever government England chooses. As long as you are OK with that.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_United_Kingdom_general_election_results_in_Scotland
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/rp2003/rp03-059.pdf
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