SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE
‘Aye or nut'
I was born and raised in Scotland, my dad was a formal Naval
officer and ‘aye’ I do consider myself to be Scottish! For me the issue of the referendum is the
single most exciting thing to happen within my lifetime, and might be the only
chance that this will ever happen in this generation. Subsequently, it is super important to me to
think about this logically, and not just go with the cop out ‘we canny dae it’
attitude without proper economic evidence that this really is really the case.
I think for me the most insightful look into how parochial
we have become in terms of what we ‘think’ we can achieve was highlighted by
Andy Murray’s win at Wimbledon. I did a
piece on this for broadcast oan the telly and I remember being in a wee bar
when the game wis oan. Right up tae the
last minute so many people doubted that he could actually win. I suppose for me after travelling around the
world I have learned that what we think can directly affect how we feel, and I would further argue even our potential ‘life chances’.
To me, being born in a dichotomy of culture and philosophy I tend to read between the lines and remain positive. I am sure many
might argue that my optimistic view of Scotland is naive; but really if this is
the case can we please see more actual evidence that proves Scotland could not
be a hugely successful independent nation or that disproves that it is not already an established strong country, rich in culture history and was once even ruled by the first black king Kenneth The Dubh? Why do people think that just because Scotland
may become independent that this means that the country will need to completely dislocate ourselves from the
UK? To me it makes absolutely no sense
to change more than we need to and that obviously having an Independent government will mean that Scottish people just have more control over their own
lives; rather than this sort of top down centralisation of power that currently
exists.
I am not bashing England, and I love the UK, to me it one of
thee most plural and diverse societies which exist in the world, and I am proud
to be a part of it. What people need to
understand is that throughout the United Kingdom there are many many inter-textual and complex social issues which could be
difficult to understand if you are not actually directly engaged in a
particular community or area. So whit ah
mean is jist think about the superfluity of unwritten social etiquettes that we
encounter on a day to day basis? Never
mind if you need to make a decision aboot the entire United Kingdom from an
often singular perspective. Ah mean ah dinnay ken, am jist sayin.
What surprises me most about Scotland is the lack of
knowledge of how rich and colossal Scotland’s contribution is to the new world
actually is. I am forever correcting
both Scot’s and others about how so many of the UK’s most recent prime minister’s
were either born or educated in Scotland, and quite frankly the amazing expanse
of ridiculously talented people in every single industry from fashion, to
literature, never mind our other massive and real industries such as
agriculture, food and drink, tourism, gas, construction as well as between
15-24 billion barrels of oil which will certainly carry us through the next
part of the 21’s century before we get some greener methods in place [i]. I mean for heaven’s sake it was the site of the
industrial revolution, and with a population of only 5.3million you would have
to be an absolute numpty to mess up
governing such a small population with such vast wealth. So whit am tryna say is it is’nay China! We
dinnay huv 2billion people tae worry aboot!
I mean the reality is that
(according to the Office for National Statistics) the population of London
alone is nearly double:
·
City of London 11,700 (2010 estimate)
·
Inner London 2,859,400 (2001)
·
Greater London 7,172,036 (2001)
· London Metropolitan Area 12-18 million (number of residents depends on
the definition you use)[ii]
Scotland is a very wealthy nation and could potentially be
the 8th richest nation in the world by GDP per head of population
(National Collective Scotland). In 2011
and 2012 we provided 9.9% of the whole of the UK’s tax, and only received 9.3%
of UK spending which means we lost over 4.4 billion pounds [iii]. Truth be told it has always been well noted
that the Scots give more per head in terms of tax than anywhere else in the
UK. So what does this mean? How can we move forward?
I am hugely confident that with such a rich and highly
talented legacy that Scottish people could look after it’s people and continue
to be a huge contributor both to the UK and to the rest of the world. The reality is there are many issues that Independence,
one being will we remain part of the EU.
I think that these are correct
and natural questions, which we will deal with.
For the record though, I could not even fathom why the EU would not want to have us as a part of Europe,
and if we need to reapply then that is the correct procedure. This is indeed unknown territory but I am positive
that we can successfully negotiate these issues as and when they arise.
Let us not lose such an amazing opportunity for real
conversation and change because of fear
or paranoia, surely by now the human race has seen how destructive this can
actually be. Let’s make a decision that is informed and
educated.
Thanks for reading !
Eunice Olumide
[i]
National Collective Scotland http://www.businessforscotland.co.uk
[ii] The
World Population Review, ONS http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/london-population/
[iii] National
Collective Scotland http://www.businessforscotland.co.uk
Image: http://www.africaresource.com/rasta/sesostris-the-great-the-egyptian-hercules/king-kenneth-dub-and-king-kenneth-iii-of-soctland-the-sons-of-the-black-the-black-kings-of-scotland-pt-1-by-oguejiofo-annu/
Image: http://www.africaresource.com/rasta/sesostris-the-great-the-egyptian-hercules/king-kenneth-dub-and-king-kenneth-iii-of-soctland-the-sons-of-the-black-the-black-kings-of-scotland-pt-1-by-oguejiofo-annu/
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