19.9.14

Unity

Delighted that Scotland has stayed part of the UK. 
A triumph for rational thought over emotion. 
The UK needs a genuine federal system of governance now. Needs strong devolved parliaments throughout the UK with consistent equal powers (inclined to think England should be split into regions), a stripped down British Parliament, and proportional representation throughout. 
Everybody can learn a lot from the Yes campaign. Yes demonstrated how to genuinely engage everybody in politics. The No campaign was an absolute shower from top to bottom. It's regrettable that some of the emotion got a little out of hand once or twice (primarily, on the Yes side). Yes showed what can be done with genuine engagement, plain-speaking, passion, and strong organisation. Hopefully everybody throughout the UK will learn from Yes.... The No leaders were too top-down and bland in their approach, and No supporters were too quiet and shy. Really hope that the great work of the Yes campaign and the huge turnout create a revolution in how everyone does politics in the UK, hope it wakes everybody up. British politics is crying out for more honesty, emotion, engagement, activism, participation. The three main british parties need leaders and front benches that speak their minds in plain English. Hopefully we'll see these recent record-breaking  levels of engagement at future elections and referenda (particularly any potential EU referendum). 
It's interesting that the only places to vote Yes were Greater Glasgow and Dundee: probably the two scottish cities with the highest unemployment and welfare dependancy, and hence the cities the most desperate for change (perhaps change of any kind?). Britain needs to focus more on creating jobs and better living environments in our poorest cities. 
It's wonderful that in the last few days of the campaign that Gordon Brown brought the focus of the No campaign (and maybe many of the Undecideds) onto the positives of the UK. We all need to focus more on the positives of the great country that we live in. The UK is amongst the most free, liberal, fair, democratic, prosperous, educated, inclusive, multicultural, open countries in the world... We need to embrace those positives, reject notions of separation and exclusion, and pour our energies into improving equality, universal prosperity, and harmony. 

17.9.14

Vote 'No'

My reasons for voting 'No' are twofold:

1. Philosophical. 
The world should be more joined-up, interlinked, and less separate.
In the democratic, free, liberal parts of the world we should make the most of this and have as few borders and as little separation as possible. The world should be less tribal and more harmonious. Creating more national boundaries would go against this.

2. Practical.
The idea of living in a country without a genuine viable currency petrifies me. Currency is the absolute bedrock of an economy. Without a stable formalised viable currency, a country is permanently teetering on the brink of economic and hence social implosion. 

The UK should stay together; but the UK should have  a constitutional convention to create genuine consistent federalism across the UK.

We are all Better Together, let's not ruin one of the most prosperous, harmonious, peaceful, inclusive countries in the world.


Vote 'No'.