THERE are now a number of people calling for a campaign for independence to get under way now, and I agree with that. However it is not always clear how people see the issues which will arise in the campaign and how they will influence it.
I have made my position clear in relation to the need for the Yes movement to address currency and economic development. The SNP leadership elite seem desperate to hide away from these issues, a position which can’t be sustained in any campaign.
However there is one aspect of economic policy which will have to be faced head-on because there is no way of avoiding it, and it contrasts sharply the difference between independence supporters and the Unionist establishment – that is NHS pay.
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The Johnson government intend to return to a policy of austerity after the pandemic, and are starting now to prepare for it. It starts with the big lie that the UK Government has borrowed billions which it will have to pay back. That is just not true; the government has not borrowed money from anyone, and does not need to pay money back to anyone. They claim this in order to “justify” keeping wages low in order to increase the relative position of the wealthy.
The first shots in this new austerity battle have started, in the attempt to reduce NHS staff’s earnings by giving them a pay award below the rate of inflation.
The Scottish Government have done better with a money bonus (which helps the low-paid) plus a 4% slightly-above-inflation award. Not good, but much better.
This issue is far more important than just supporting the NHS staff, because it is challenging the UK Government’s attempts to reintroduce austerity into the economy. The independence campaign should give support to the NHS workers, and this will in turn get support for the type of economic policy an independent Scotland requires.
Andy Anderson
Saltcoats
KENNY MacAskill blames the SNP for not pushing for an independence referendum (MacAskill: SNP missing ‘historic’ indy opportunity, Jul 3). Independence is the their sole reason for existence. His Alba Party was wiped out by the Scottish voters. If he is truly for independence, he should spend his time in converting No voters to Yes voters like AUOB does. Or is he more interested in his political career?
William Purves
Galashiels
READ MORE: Kenny MacAskill accuses SNP of missing ‘historic’ independence opportunity
BOB Ingram’s cri de coeur (Letters, July 2) is bound to resonate with many SNP members, who once again placed their faith in the current leadership at the May election, only to see their ardour for action on independence cool the instant the results were announced.
Each day the letters page of The National is full of folk pleading for leadership, for a strategy and a campaign, as support for independence in the polls slips to below 50%.
It is surely becoming evident even to the most loyal SNP members that pre-election lip-service for indy is merely a herding technique.
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Bob writes that “if you or I had failed to achieve the objectives of the company that employed us, we would be removed.” The problem here is that the internal democratic structures within the SNP have been collapsed. This leadership selects itself and ignores the membership.
The most animated reaction seen from the SNP leadership in many years occurred not from a renewed enthusiasm for independence, but from the formation of the Alba Party. Why was this the case? Perhaps because the people who formed and joined that party were prepared to take action rather than wait for action from on high; and this represented more of a threat to their comfort zone.
If Bob really wants to “sack the board”, perhaps he should consider similar action.
Jim Daly
Edinburgh
SHONA Craven was apparently doing personal stuff on Monday and didn’t trouble to take steps to keep up with an additional, unscheduled briefing and that, she suggests, is a government problem (Covid communications just aren’t good enough, Jul 2).
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I was an avid viewer of the daily 12.15pm briefings the First Minister and her team delivered until the BBC, prompted by opposition parties, decided that we didn’t need unnecessary information. (Friday’s briefing and questions has just been cut short as I write).
As a result I am now less well informed than previously but that is not down to our government so perhaps Ms Craven can try aiming at the right target.
Archie Drummond
Tillicoultry
ANAS Sarwar still lying for Labour – on Radio 4 yesterday: “There is no pathway back for a UK Labour government without a resurgence in Scotland”. What rubbish – if every single constituency in Scotland had returned a Labour MP they would still have lost the last General Election massively. Once again no interruption, no correction from the presenter and no explanation from Sarwar.
It is not just Boris who is rewriting history – Labour in Scotland are doing the very same. You just cannot talk about listening to the concerns of people if you refuse to hear them.
Winifred McCartney
Paisley
I WOULD prefer to live in a Scotland free of monarchy and mysticism. The best thing to do with any piece of rock claiming to be Scotland’s Stone of Destiny would be to grind it to a fine dust and dump it far out in the Atlantic Ocean. The rationality of the Scottish Enlightenment is an heirloom of infinitely greater worth than a piece of rubble – I don’t care whose head allegedly rested on it.
Lawrence Buckley
Crieff, Perthshire
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