I HAVE been writing in since 2017 asking why the SNP do nothing but talk about independence. As David Pratt has pointed out even the talk has pretty much dried up. Having said that, in that same issue, both Mhairi Black and Tommy Shepherd came out with the standard statement of “We need independence to get things done.”
Bobby Brennan states in his letter to The National, “If we are to win over citizens who are not yet convinced on independence it must be shown to them that the Scottish Government can govern in a competent, efficient, humane and decent way.”
READ MORE: David Pratt: Post-election silence on independence from SNP is deafening
Can I ask him what is competent and efficient about a government that can only deal with one major issue at a time? First it was, “We’ve got to fight Brexit before we do anything about independence.” Despite Ian Blackford stating in Westminster that Scotland will not be taken out of Europe “against our will”, we are out!
Then it was, “We need to make sure Scotland gets the best deal possible before we do anything about independence.” So, the Tories ignored everything the Scottish Government put forward and we got the worst deal we could imagine.
Then it was Covid that had to be dealt with before we go for independence. We have had a very successful vaccination programme with even the new variants being controlled by two jabs. But now it’s “We have to be clear of Covid, and deal with the recovery from it first.”
Has nobody pointed out to them that this virus keeps on changing itself to become more and more infectious and it’s therefore likely that we will never be rid of it completely? We will all probably have to have an annual jab – just like the present flu jab – to keep it at bay.
As for the recovery; How are we going to be able to do that when our fisheries have lost some 80% of their trade due to Brexit; and our hospitality and tourism industry is being severely damaged by the harsh immigration laws brought in by the Tories. Our soft fruits industry is suffering the same fate. Vast numbers of EU workers have returned home and even our NHS can’t get staff to replace them.
To rub salt into the wound, we now have the free trade deal with Australia. Figures quoted indicate that this will increase the GDP of Australia by some 4.2%, while increasing our GDP by only some 0.02%. To put this in layman’s terms, that means for every £100.00 we used to spend, on imports from Australia, we will now spend £104.20. Whereas for every £100.00 Australia used to spend on imports from us, they will now spend £100.02. That means we will be £4.18 worse off for every £100.00 of trade we do with Australia.
This is also likely to do immeasurable harm to our farming industry and we could lose the vast majority of it.
We need to forget about all of these distractions and go for independence now. The SNP have had about six or seven mandates from the Scottish people for a referendum. It’s past time for them to act on those mandates.
When the campaign started in 2014, those in favour of independence stood at 20%. Just before the referendum it was at 52% but then came the infamous vow. The outcome was that people believed them and we ended up with 45%.
Without any ongoing campaign the figures in favour of independence have remained high. Gordon Brown’s latest poll – in which he asks for a rating of likelihood to vote for independence on a scale of zero to 10 – shows those on categories zero to four, (against), are 38%; those on five, (undecided), are 8%; and those in categories six to 10, (For), are 54%. If you remove those on category five, then some 59% are likely to vote in favour, and 41% are against. If the campaign starts now and lasts 18 months, as it did last time, and achieves the same results, then we are likely to have some 79% in favour of Independence. Why wait any longer? Let’s get on with it!
CJ Kerr
Glenrothes
I HAVE always found the prescient journalism articles written by David Pratt for The National highly informative and thought provoking and and admire his vast experience in world wide and troubled hot spots putting himself often at personal risk. On that basis his article: (Silence on indy from Scottish Government is deafening, printed June 17th) really hit home with me. His world wide experience is admired by me and no doubt by many others, so I respect and would absolutely agree with the points made.
With the astounding abilities shown by Nicola Sturgeon and the MSPs, it is really time that the Scottish Government pull out the stops and show a Rottweiler attitude towards the pandemic along with independence matters.
W D Mill Irving
Kilbirnie
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