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Promise of more power for Scotland to say ‘No’
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IN a last-ditch attempt to shore up support for a “No” vote in tomorrow’s independence referendum, Britain is promising to guarantee Scotland high levels of state funding and greater control over health care.
With polls showing the decision too close to call, welfare spending and the future of the National Health Service have formed a central part of Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond’s case for secession.
In a deal brokered by former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the leaders of Britain’s three main political parties said they would retain the funding equation that sustains a higher level of public spending north of the border.
“People want to see change,” says the agreement, published in Scotland’s Daily Record newspaper and signed by Prime Minister David Cameron, Labour leader Ed Miliband and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.
“A ‘No’ vote will deliver faster, safer and better change than separation,” the agreement claims.
Cameron, whose job is on the line if Scotland votes to leave the United Kingdom, warned on his last visit to Scotland there would be no going back and separation could be painful.
British leaders accept that even if Scotland votes to stay in the 307-year union, the UK’s structure will have to change as the rush to grant so many powers to Scotland will provoke calls for a less centralized state from voters in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In the face of the biggest internal threat to the UK since Ireland broke away nearly a century ago, the English establishment — from Cameron and the City of London to soccer star David Beckham — have united in an effort to persuade people who live in Scotland that they would be “Better Together.”
“There’s no going back from this. No re-run. If Scotland votes ‘Yes’ the UK will split and we will go our separate ways forever,” Cameron, his voice at times seeming to falter with emotion, said in Aberdeen, the center of Scotland’s oil industry.
“Don’t think I’m frustrated with politics right now, so I’ll walk out the door. If you don’t like me I won’t be here forever. If you don’t like this government it won’t last forever. But if you leave the UK that will be forever.”
The visit by Cameron drew a swift rebuttal from Salmond who said Scotland had a historic opportunity to rule its own affairs.
“The next time he comes to Scotland it will not be to love-bomb or engage in desperate last-minute scaremongering ... following a ‘Yes’ vote it will be to engage in serious post-referendum talks,” he said.
If Scotland votes for independence, there would follow 18 months of negotiations over everything from North Sea oil and the pound to European Union membership and nuclear weapons.
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