INDEPENDENCE does not depend on the gracious bounty of Mrs Maybe.
Sovereignty will never be simply be granted. Independence will not come from an intervening hand in Brussels or by waiting for Brexit to derail itself. Independence will come when we have achieved independence in all but name. We must, as a nation, affirm that we are a country, a state in the making. We must create the conditions for this to come about, by behaving as a state.
During the days before devolution, we waited patiently for a Scottish parliament to be granted when we could have created one ourselves, whether recognised by Westminster or not. We could have raised the money, built the building and created a shadow government, feisty, symbolic and revolutionary.
In our nation's history, great events and slow burning change happened when Scots united in purpose and made them so. But independence cannot happen without wealth, nor without friends. For that reason we must set off now on a quest to create the skeleton of a functioning state, and a vibrant, independent economy. To do so we must seize every ounce of devolved power that we can, and we must begin to demand more.
Rather than force headlong into a second referendum that I am not convinced we will win at this stage, we could set our sights on independence in a decade hence. We can even set a date, say 30th November 2027. For now until then, Scotland should build herself. We need a shadow diplomatic system. We can do this through the creation of a worldwide network of trade missions, self-funding through the generation of trade, and at the same time creating a Scottish voice around the world. We should look at what Scotland does well and do more of it, using our devolved powers. If we crash out of the EU in 2019 against our will, then let us make the best of it by assuming control of our agriculture and fisheries, our whisky and salmon exports, our cheese and our beef. We can set up tourist missions and use Scottish government money to build better roads, airports and attractions.
Let us begin to create wealth, and examine why we are underachieving, why our cities are ringed by sink estates and what skills we need to build. Let's encourage the creation of technological powerhouses, become a world leader in green energy. Let's find the money to do it ourselves. Let's push now for total fiscal freedom.
Above all let us not wait for other countries to do it for us. What can we do, realistically and gradually, to get to the a point of total financial and diplomatic freedom by 2027? Can we raise money ourselves, through inward investment and financial services, through Scottish government bonds? Can we begin to draw up detailed plans for our new currency and plan, detail by detail our divorce from the UK? What can we do as individuals too, in order to work towards independence ten years hence?
Can we each try to persuade our friends and families, build social media followings, one contact at a time? Can we work on creating our own businesses too, an organic, home-grown Scottish economy?
Independence will come when we have made it so.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here