Essentially, he said he would be voting no because he thought we 'gain something from being a key part of what Britain is' and he disliked 'the idea of Scotland abandoning the sinking ship when things aren't going well...' He went on to say the whole country was a mess and it would be more beneficial to sort out the mess before leaving.
He finished by saying voting to leave '...doesn't seem the right thing to do morally.'
First of all, I think its a laudable sentiment, not wanting to abandon people in England, Wales & Northern Ireland to continued Westminster mismanagement. However, given we can't reasonably expect to change Westminster - you'll remember this:
Is it morally acceptable to commit future generations in Scotland to ever more ferocious neo-conservative fuckwittery of the sort we're currently subjected to - against our democratic will - when we have a route out in September this year?
Is there any nobility in shared misery? I would say not.
The Tories are in Government for a reason - other than the Lib Dems propping them up - people in the South of the UK voted for them. With only one Tory MP in Scotland, they've been rejected enthusiastically for years in Scotland
Some people like to point out that a Westminster General election is a UK wide affair and since Scotland is a part of the UK - it doesn't matter that Scotland rejects the Tories. This is to miss the point of self-determination - Scotland is a different country with different political aspirations. As I said, it is admirable to want to help out a neighbour running into problems - but surely not at ruinous cost to your own household - especially when that neighbour is doing it to themselves and in turn to you; and there's not a damn thing you can do to stop them.
Under those circumstance, would it not make sense to move away?
I'm sure he'll be thrilled to know I'm going to keep working on him.
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| Steady, I'm not that boring... Am I? |
I was wondering if your friend felt inclined to help out other people when they were in a mess.
ReplyDeleteI mean, was he there for Ireland when they suffered the same fate as the UK by letting their bankers...erm, do whatever it is they do?
Was he angry with Mr Brown for calling the Icelanders terrorists and was he pushing him to help Reykjavik out back in 2008?
Or is it just Brits he feels we should help out. Does his morality stop, as it were, at Dover... (or Edinburgh airport)?
That's another aspect of it, where do you draw the line?
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I do know many people who have the same view, possibly because they don't realise just how deep the democratic deficit is, a Scottish vote counts for very little in Westminster and the best we can do at this time is lead by example.
Instead of people living in England bumping their gums - fueled by shitkicking/lowest-common-denominator political reportage from the Daily Mail etc - about all the 'freebies' we get up here, they'll realise they're not freebies but responsible spending decisions.