Independence Day
| 'Bitter Together' |
18 September 2014 is the day when Scotland will finally decide whether to become an independent country - or remain as part of the UK.
I am still a sceptic on independence though I have to admit that I find the relentlessly negative tactics of the Better Together campaign - increasingly irritating.
Listening to these people - whom the wags now describe as 'Bitter Together' - you'd be forgiven for believing that Scotland has difficulty in tying its own shoelaces - without the careful support and supervision of UK politicians down in Westminster.
As if Westminster Governments deserves a big pat on the back - for its woeful mis-management of the economy over the past six years.
Always remembering - of course - that these Westminster Governments comprised all three 'Bitter Together' parties - in the shape of Labour, Tories and the Lib Dems.
The pro-UK parties have hardly a good word to say about Scotland's ability to stand on its own two feet - and what I'd like to hear are convincing arguments to persuade me that Westminster really makes a difference.
Not just in terms of economies of scale or being part of a bigger gang - which are obvious to everyone, of course - but practical examples of where Westminster actually does thing better - or where its politicians are more accountable to local voters.
By the same token I'd like to hear the 'Yes to Independence' campaign explain some of its more difficult policy propositions - without treating potential supporters like useful idiots.
For example, how do you square a commitment to getting rid of Trident - without accepting that the Faslane Naval Base cannot remain in its present form?
Other policy areas are equally difficult for the Yes Campaign - such as its commitment to historically high levels of public spending on welfare, education and the NHS - but without raising taxes and/or introducing contributory charges.
I'll make my mind up over the next year or so depending on the answers I get to these questions - and a few more besides.
