Devo Max will give Scotland everything
except that
We won’t control our foreign policy
We won’t have the revenues from our own oil
The UK Supreme Court can still overrule our own Scots law and our own judges
We will have no seat at the United Nations
We will have no independent membership of the European Union
Our voice will be stifled, marginalised, ignored in international forums
The UK Parliament will still be sovereign, and can revoke devo max any time it likes
The UK Parliament will still decide when our young people are sent to die on foreign fields
We will still be forced to have nuclear weapons of mass destruction in our waters
Scotland won’t a be a nation in any real sense
EPITAPH
Scots had their chance and they blew it
RIP Freedom
Devo Max is the Union’s last throw of the dice to keep Scotland as a subject nation, to be bled of its resources and talent
If you vote for it, you will never again be allowed to vote for independence
Scots know exactly what they mean by independence – the UK Government knows exactly what it means by subjection and sovereignty
The Scottish Unionist parties know exactly what they are complicit in
HOLD YOUR HEAD HIGH AS A FREE SCOT - REJECT DEVO MAX
The thing about Devo-Max is that it's up to the unionists to write it not the SNP.
ReplyDeleteUnless all the unionist parties come together and write the framework for Devo-Max and agree to implement it if it wins then it is not even worth the paper it's printed on.
If the SNP write it then it will take them time, effort and endless negotiations with the three unionists parties to get something agreed by all on the ballot paper while they should be concentrating on the independence referendum. All that effort diverted to putting another unionist option on the ballot paper.
Salmond's being smart. He's offered to put Devo-Max on the ballot paper but when it fails to show it's a unionist failure not a nationalist one because it's not up to the SNP to write it.
The oddest thing of all is that all the unionist parties think that the SNP should write the independence killer option but the silver lining is that the unionist parties will never be able to come together and agree on a single Devo-Max option for the ballot paper.
A perceptive analysis, Doug. I've just tweeted that the UK will define Devo Max.
ReplyDeleteSome nationailst Scots seem to think that it will magically give us all our oil and gas revenues? Dream on ...
Do they think Cameron was in the Shetlands - while his Defence Secretary was in meltdown - for fun?
The UK will not surrender the black gold revenue streams to Scotland.
I don't think DevoMax or FFA, or whatever it's name is, will do.
ReplyDeleteReading your view has convinced me a simple choice between independence or not is the best referendum poll.
If we choose a half-measure then we may never get the chance again.
If the Scots get the wind up them with the Brit nat media onslaught then they'll certainly choose the halfway-house.
If there's no half a step then they might just go for the full step.
FFA is just proper devolution, that's not what we want.
Thanks, Stevie!
ReplyDeletePeter, Is the fact that it is British Petroleum (BP) that is developing this Clair Field important for the future ongoings of "UK plc". I never thought much about Cameron's visit at this time of trouble via Fox - but it does seem to be more than a photo opportunity, perhaps much more relevant.
ReplyDeleteCome independence, how do we Scots claim that all oil production from a "UK plc" organisation, is in fact ours, Scottish?
Every stone needs to be turned over to see what's lurking. Ownership has to be validated, any ideas for this, how will it be done - indeed, will it need to be done?
I'm no expert, Barontorc, but as I understand it, it's not the product of the oil companies that is ours, it's the revenues generated by Scotland permitting them to drill and extract in Scottish waters.
ReplyDeleteThe phrase Scottish oil is used, of course, but that is simply claiming that all Scotland's natural resources belong to the people of Scotland, a claim made by every independent nation, e.g. Norway. Probably still the best way to understand it is to view again that section of 'Diomhair', available on YouTube.
What we know for certain is that when Scottish oil was discovered in the late '70s, the UK government moved rapidly to unlawfully redefine the boundaries of Scotland's territorial waters and to lay claim to all oil revenues. The revenues from licensing the oil companies to drill and extract in the North Sea were sufficient to save Maggie's UK from collapse, build the M25, and God knows what else that didn't benefit Scotland.
But you are right to be concerned. Cameron's interest envisages two possibilities -
One, that the referendum either never occurs, or says No to independence, in which case his priority is to ensure that the UK still controls all oil revenues.
Two, is that if Scotland secures its independence, there is some mechanism to claim all or part of the new oil revenues for UK Minus that will be crtitical for UK Minus in the years after independence.
Exactly how this could be done I don't know, but it would have to involve pre-referendum agreements with the oil companies that the Scottish Government were legally obliged to honour, coupled with a re-definition of what Scotland's terrirotial waters are, and what their claims to natural resources are.
Bernard Ingham and Scottish oil - Diomhair
Theft of Scotland's oil part 1
Theft of Scotland's oil part 2
Barontorc - Got my link order and titles mixed up - in too big a hurry - but they're all there. I'll put them up on the blog shortly.
ReplyDelete