It's a very slow clap, but a clap all
the same. A couple of weeks ago I found myself in the unusual
position of thanking David Cameron, our lovely Prime Minister, for
helping halve membership of the Conservative (& Unionist) Party.
This week my adulation grows as I find that Mr Cameron might have
done all that was needed to seal the independence deal. How so? He's
refused to enter into a live television debate about Scottish
independence with the First Minister of Scotland, Alec Salmond. Why?
Because it would almost certainly signal the end of his political
career, although that's not the official line from No 10. Is it true?
I'd like to think so. We all knew it was never going to happen but
how much would you pay to see that? I'd probably be willing to
separate myself with £100 if you made it a stadium event. What an
incredible site to see, the rest of the Union would be lefts in rags
of shame. Thus offering the rest of the UK a fighting chance to claim
what is left of it's socialist ruins.
To be perfectly honest there are very
valid reasons why the Prime Minster of the UK shouldn't be debating
Scotland's future with the First Minster of Scotland. These reason
are largely as Alec Salmond has correctly stated, that Scotland's
future should be decided by those who live in Scotland. That being
the case, it's true Mr Cameron really doesn't have much to offer on
the matter. Though I'm sure he's keeping his fingers crossed that he
is able to hold on to some of his Scottish property post
independence. The truth is that despite the spectacular furore that
such a debate would have caused, the Prime Minster's declination to
debate Scottish independence in public also acknowledges and
advocates the reasons for Scottish independence. Which is simply:
the life of people living in Scotland has very little to do with
London, Westminster politics, or, worse than that, current
Conservative and Liberal Democrat agendas.
So why are Labour pro Union? That's
quite obvious. All 59 Scottish Westminster MP's will be out of a job,
of which 41 MP's are Labour. So more importantly why is Scottish
Labour pro Union? I suspect that Scottish Labour being pro union is
just as much about job security for MSP's as well, combined with a
lot of gentle ear tugging from their Labour Westminster counterparts.
Though why they all would worry about this is a little bemusing, as
there will be more than enough political jobs to go around in
Scotland the day they hoist the Saltire high above Edinburgh Castle.
They'll be Defence Ministers, Foreign Ministers even Ambassadors,
they might not even have to live in Scotland, their internationalist
ambitions realised. Should they have become a little more London
centric, no doubt they'll be able to sign up to work in the consulate
there without fear of loosing any Scottishness at all. We might even
end up with a consulate in Manchester, it's certain there will be a
lot of Scottish passports to process south of the border. Be in no
doubt, though, that the British passport will never hold the word
Scottish. You only have to look at the passport of a person who was
born in India prior to Indian independence in 1950.
Despite the valid reasons for Mr
Cameron not getting involved in the independence debate, it's sad to
see the dissolution of the UK developing without much of a fight
from Westminster. Would the time for a debate on Scottish
independence between Alec and Dave been more timely, though
significantly more dull, if they had done it before the signing of
the referendum bill? The time when Westminster had to sign over the
powers to Scotland to hold the referendum? That was jolly nice of
them after all.
Though how different the response might
have been if Gordon Brown had still been in number 10? That's a very
hard picture to imagine, one Scots man pitted against the other both
in positions of power and jostling for control. Would it have painted
a very different picture of a Scottish future? Now without a Scots
Prime Minister to defend the Union we are left with the lack lustre
debate of Alastair Darling, former Chancellor of the Exchequer and
now the leader of the No Campaign. Isn't it just darling of Alastair
to step into the roll and take the hits for the UK's premier, which
the Prime Minister would surely have been unable to answer. Once
again bringing the purpose of the Union and our shared British
culture totally into question.
So Mr Darling what are we going to do
with him? And how do we feel about his right to protest the defence
of the United Kingdom with Scotland in it while the leader of the UK
won't? It's a poor show isn't it? It can only feel like one thing:
that he's been hung out to dry facing the unrivalled debating skills
of Mr Salmond. Or will Dave be there front and central at the debate
just like he was with Andy Murray? It's like watching someone
literally give away the keys to the Kingdom.
Are we not his British citizens too?
Are we not important enough to risk public debate over? Do we not as
British citizens defend the UK and currently work for it's interests?
If our own Prime Minster won't fight for us then there is probably
only one person we can turn to. Who is there left? The Queen. Scarily
she will have more to offer on the situation than our current
political leader.
