42 Reasons for Yes

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Better Together know they are ahead. They also know that, the more people hear the arguments for independence, the more likely they are to vote yes. For them, the strategy is therefore simple. It is what football teams do when they are a goal up, but their players are exhausted and they’re down to 10 players: waste time, and stick to well worn formulas. Wind up the other team and let them run down the minutes complaining to the ref and then that the ref himself is biased. Above all, waste time, don’t take any risks, don’t let the opposition get the ball on their own terms.

The most important thing for yes campaigners, therefore, is not being distracted by this, not getting bogged down in petty spats that few undecided voters care about. Supporters of independence will win by calmly repeating the case, by knocking on doors, speaking at public meetings, talking to thousands of people, by gently answering the questions asked of us and by passionately showing what Scotland could be. This is what many thousands of yes campaigners do every day, and today, I’m launching my small contribution to that effort: “42 reasons to support Scottish independence” – one for today, and another for every day until polls close.

I say today. It’s a bit more complicated than that. “42 reasons to support Scottish independence” is an e-book, based on my series over on openDemocracy: “40 reasons to support Scottish independence”, so some of you might have read some of them before. I’ve added two extra reasons: one, on currency, based on a piece Peter McColl and I wrote a few months before the series, the other based loosely on a speech I gave at the launch of the Young Independence Convention (or whatever we called it) back in 2005. It’s been tweaked, improved, and edited by the excellent Dan Hind, and I’ve added a short introduction, and another article “Scotland isn’t different, it’s Britain that’s bizarre” to finish it all off.

As I write this, I’m in Galway. Last night, Cork. I’ve yet to meet anyone in Ireland who is against a yes vote. As one man put it to me in the pub the other night “they’ll just try and frighten you out of it, but don’t let them. Of course Scotland should be fuckin’ independent”.

Unfortunately, it’s not so obvious to everyone. So we need to keep making the case. This is my attempt. I hope you enjoy it.

(the e-book can be downloaded here…)

 

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  1. Abulhaq says:

    Reason for Scottish independence? Why not? every other nation/state in the world, large or small, rich or poor seems to handle it well enough. Reasons for not being independent? too this, too that, too the other…..yawn!
    Since when has freedom needed any justification.

  2. I downloaded the pdf version-payment confirmed but no book!

    Am I being daft or is there something else I have to do?

    Cheers

    1. Oops – has this sorted itself out? If you drop me an email ([email protected]) so I have your address, I’ll forward it to the publisher – many apologies, not sure what’s gone wrong.

  3. Reblogged this on charlesobrien08 and commented:
    I am amazed that anybody wants dependency is there a real reason to vote no? none I can think of,it must be yes its the only answer that makes sense.

  4. am amazed that anybody wants dependency is there a real reason to vote no? none I can think of,it must be yes its the only answer that makes sense.

  5. gordon murray says:

    Working with some English colleagues this week I was asked if I was for independence? I said of course I am, why would anyone not want to be free of Westminster; sleaze, expenses fraud, cash for honours, cash for questions, paedophile rings, child abuse cover ups? Who would trust their country to an organisation where you couldn’t trust them to be alone with your children? They agreed and suggested perhaps drawing a line north of Watford to Bristol and giving everyone south east of that independence instead, letting them survive without the rest of us if they can.
    The other issue that came up was UK assets: we hear about Scotland’s share of UK National debt being around £120bn or 8.6% of £1.3trillion, but no value mentioned at all about iScotland’s share of UK public assets.
    I checked the UK National Audit Office web site and it gives £1.26trillion.
    On independence Scotland should settle for its population share of UK national debt to be traded off against UK public assets and cover the difference.
    I figure Scotland would then be in a position to clear all debts within a first term of an independent administration if it so chose.
    No debt, no Guarantor for its debt, no Lender of Last Resort in case of defaulting on that debt, no need for austerity in Scotland. QED why would any Scot vote to live with UK austerity for the next 20years when we’ve only tasted 10% of what is still to come?

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