AS an octogenarian, I look at my country Scotland and wonder if my one hope will ever be realised. Our First Minister, a person I have much respect for, seems to have replaced Jeane Freeman as health secretary. What has happened to Jeane?
There is such a thing as delegation, and although the FM does a good job on her daily stint on TV the Health Secretary should be the one person to do that daily job.
I fully appreciate what the FM is doing, but she should be concentrating on the one thing the SNP was set up for, independence, or if not delegate someone to do the job full-time.
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It goes without saying that the 2014 campaign was lost due to large numbers of affluent pensioners and the middle classes. All this due to the fears of economic matters, in particular the currency and loss of the pound sterling plus consensus regarding the future of pensions.
The debate about the currency was a very strong weapon for the Better Together campaign. The intervention of Gordon Brown – with the support of Cameron and Miliband – with the promise of additional devolution for Scotland if the Scots voted No, led to the publication of The Vow.
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The Yes campaign failed to address the fears that gripped many voters; confusion and uncertainty around the currency that would be used in a future Scotland. They also failed to use the 2008 financial crisis and the massive budget deficits as a weapon against claims Scotland could not afford to go its own way.
In the short time before the 2021 election the Scottish Government must look to all the issues that caused the failure in 2014 and rectify them. Clarifying the currency issue would help to ensure the pensioner and middle-class vote.
Providing I can rely on the SNP government to pull it off, with luck I may see my greatest wish come true before I say a fond farewell.
George Mckenzie
Perth
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