Following Alex Salmond’s intro to the consultation process for Scottish Independence, we have now begun the process that will not only determine the future in Scotland, but the futures of all of the members of these British Isles.
It’s going to be a long debate which we will tire of well before its conclusion either at the ballot box or in court.Whatever happens, there are in the very discussions on-going, opportunities to change and embrace a new era of politics amongst our island nations. People are more interested in politics, and have found their voices more often. Public opinion is cynical about political motives and voted accordingly at the last elections when the UK coalition was imposed through political opportunism, and a landslide victory indicated the mandate given to the SNP by the people of Scotland.We are now mid-way through both political terms, and do not have to be geniuses to work out who is doing better. Negative campaigning did not and will not work. It’s time to take a grown up look at where we are and prepare for a future in which true partnership can exist for mutual benefit.
The past is past. We do not want or need to retain a position which was once apparently GREAT. Who was it great for? The countries we raped of resources and lorded over? The people we used as servants and treated as second class citizens? We do not have the right to dictate to others how to conduct their lives and run their countries. If we want them to follow our example, then we must make it one worth following. Pets and threats and posturing are negative rhetoric which we can well do without. It is time to stand up and take responsibility, prove by our actions that we are worth our salt and act accordingly.
There is an opportunity here that I won’t ever see again in my lifetime. It is a chance to change for the better and offer a future to the young people of our countries, a future that is within their grasp, and can be something worth inheriting when their time comes to take over the reins. It is time to grow up and be the nations again that our hearts long for.