Tag Archives: scottish independence

Opinion: What happens if Salmond loses the independence referendum?

By Chris White | Published 30th January 2012 - 12:54 pm

There are clear signs that support for independence in Scotland is volatile and that the current debate is weakening it. Issues, such as defence, uncertainties over any financial settlement – not least because RBS is as Scottish as a glass of Glenmorangie – plus the normal fear of voters faced with a big step into the unknown, will all conspire between now and 2014 to make victory less and less likely.

So the residents of Scotland (including many who would describe themselves as English) may well say no. What then? Does the issue fade away?

In Scotland there would have to be …

Posted in Op-eds | 18 Comments

Opinion: Firm Friend and Equal Partner – Alex Salmond’s Lecture at the Scott Trust

By Nick Tyrone | Published 28th January 2012 - 10:30 am

I attended Alex Salmond’s lecture at the Scott Trust this Tuesday. It will come as no surprise to most of you that it was a terrifyingly brilliant performance by Scotland’s First Minister. However, it is important to note that the man is an enviable position at the moment and is well aware of that fact.

For a start, he has the luxury of being both in government and opposition at the same time (government in Scotland while being able to dump on everyone in Westminster, including Labour). He proudly declared on Tuesday night that not only are the three main party …

Posted in News | Also tagged alex salmond, Scotland | 10 Comments

Opinion: UK break-up – we’d all be losers

By Alastair Ward-Booth | Published 23rd January 2012 - 1:54 pm

On the 6th May 2011 the Scottish National Party secured a historic majority for the next five year term at the Scottish Parliament. Their manifesto promised to freeze council tax, oppose tuition fees and set a renewable energy target of 100% by 2020. However, more crucially, one of the SNP’s most important pledges was to hold a referendum on independence.

The SNP is keen to emphasize its view that independence would make Scotland more successful; economically and socially. The SNP state that independence is the best choice for the future of Scotland and the issue should be decided by …

Posted in Op-eds | 15 Comments

Anti-English or Anti-Scottish? A guide to the independence referendum

By Katy Gordon | Published 16th January 2012 - 4:54 pm

At last, Westminster and the UK media have woken up to the reality that Scotland is sleepwalking towards independence. The phoney war is over and finally we may get some serious debate rather than evasion, insults and accusations of ‘talking Scotland down’.

When the Scottish Liberal Democrats refused to form a coalition with the SNP after the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections, it was not just personal antipathy to Alex Salmond’s unbearably smug persona. Our then leader, Nicol Stephen, warned that the SNP would spend the whole time in government blaming Westminster for everything, rather than concentrating on actually making …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged independence referendum | 48 Comments

Opinion: Speaking up for Scots – a referendum on independence needs democratic legitimacy

By Oranjepan | Published 16th January 2012 - 8:54 am

All sorts of scare-stories surround a future Scottish referendum – from practical questions about the debt rating of an independent nation to more emotive fears of a new wave of Highland clearances.

Yet amidst all the manoeuvering by both the pro and anti-unionists seeking to define the framework under which the question will be answered (in particular whether it should be a straight in-out decision) the respective leaders at Westminster and Holyrood retain one glaring blindspot.

Scotsman columnist Bill Jamieson is entirely correct when identifying an “effective disenfranchisement which could undermine the referendum vote as envisaged,” but perhaps not …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged holyrood, independence referendum | 19 Comments

Liberal Unionism in 2012

By William Hobhouse | Published 13th January 2012 - 4:00 pm

There’s no escaping history in our party, and current debates of nationalism, unionism and secession should prompt Liberal Democrats to delve back into the Gladstonian past.

The Liberal Party split over the Union. Gladstone favoured Home Rule for Ireland, Liberal Unionists didn’t, and ultimately joined the Conservative Party. This cemented the Conservative Party as the party of the Union, and it is a position the Conservative Party still holds.

The purpose of this article is, however, to challenge the Conservative Party’s stranglehold over being British.

The existing Conservative argument goes that a Conservative Britain is a Britainthat stands proud and takes no nonsense …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged conservative party, european union, home rule., snp | 26 Comments

Haggis, Neeps and Liberalism #12

By Caron Lindsay | Published 1st December 2009 - 5:53 pm

Yesterday was St Andrew’s Day, a special day of celebration in Scotland. If Iain Smith, Liberal Democrat MSP for NE Fife which includes the town of St Andrews had his way, it would have been a full public holiday, not just the half day that civil servants can take if they want that the SNP have delivered in Government.

There’s a lot going on in Scottish politics at the moment. Here are just a few snippets:

Posted in Scotland | Also tagged alex salmond, ashay ghai, calman commission, devolution, fiona hyslop, iain smith, mike russell, snp, tavish scott, tax | Leave a comment

Daily View 2×2: 30 November 2009

By Stephen Tall | Published 30th November 2009 - 7:45 am

Welcome to a new week, and the anniversary of the end of the invasion of Iraq … first time round, that is – Operation Desert Storm officially finished in 1995. And happy birthday to David Mamet, Billy Idol, Lorraine Kelly and Gary Lineker and Gael García Bernal. On with the day …

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here’s are two posts that have caught the eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:

Richmond Park: Lib Dem Hold (Jonathan Calder)

… some will ask how [Zac Goldsmith's] extraordinary personal wealth can be squared with [his’ talk in

…

Posted in Daily View | Also tagged alix mortimer, iran, iraq, jonathan calder, snp, tavish scott, zac goldsmith | 6 Comments

Scottish Lib Dem conference: your LDV reader

By Stephen Tall | Published 2nd November 2009 - 10:30 am

On Saturday, LDV reported the news that the Scottish Lib Dems were uniting behind leader Tavish Scott’s opposition to the SNP referendum on independence, ahead of a special private conference for party members. And so it came to pass, as the BBC reports:

Tavish Scott has consistently opposed a referendum, but some divisions within the party have emerged and the issue was debated in a closed session at the party’s autumn conference in Dunfermline, Fife, on Saturday.

Senior Lib Dem MSP Ross Finnie, who has been asked to lead a consultation with members about the party’s stance,

…

Posted in Scotland | Also tagged andrew reeves, brian taylor, caron lindsay, fraser macpherson, ross finnie, scottish lib dems, snp, stephen glenn, tavish scott | Leave a comment

Times: Tavish Scott expected to see off Lib Dem rebellion on opposition to referendum

By Stephen Tall | Published 31st October 2009 - 1:00 pm

A week ago, LDV asked the question, Is it time for the Scottish Lib Dems to back an independence referendum?, amid suggestions in The Sunday Times that there was “a growing rebellion within the party’s ranks over its opposition to Alex Salmond’s Referendum Bill.” Today’s Times reports that Scottish Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott will win overwhelming backing for the leadership line:

Senior Lib Dems were increasingly confident that a minority of “referendum rebels” would not succeed in forcing Mr Scott into a U-turn that could pose serious question marks over his continued leadership.

The issue of the Scottish government’s

…

Posted in Scotland | Also tagged alistair carmichael, referendum, snp, tavish scott | 12 Comments

Scottish Lib Dems win anti-independence vote, call for new Holyrood powers

By Stephen Tall | Published 6th March 2009 - 9:41 am

As anticipated on Lib Dem Voice here, the Scottish Lib Dems’ call for a referendum on Scottish independence to be postponed until at least 2011 – the date of the next Holyrood elections – received a substantial majority last night. The FT reports:

Labour and the Conservatives backed a Liberal Democrat call for the SNP to ditch its plans for an independence referendum, and the amendment was carried by 72 votes to 47. …

Mike Rumbles, the Liberal Democrats’ chief whip, said Thursday’s vote was a “reality check” for the SNP. “They need to ditch the referendum and ditch it

…

Posted in News, Scotland | Also tagged calman commission, devolution, scottish lib dems, scottish parliament, tavish scott | 1 Comment

Scottish Lib Dems call for end to “chatter about the constitution”

By Stephen Tall | Published 4th March 2009 - 6:08 pm

Lib Dem Voice reported last week that Scottish Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott had made clear his opposition to a referendum on Scottish independence:

Liberal Democrats do not support independence and we will not support a referendum that could let independence in through the backdoor.”

Today the Scottish party will go one stage further and move an amendment in the Holyrood Parliament calling for any idea of a referendum to be dumped until after the next elections in 2011. It is thought likely that Labour and the Tories will rally behind the Lib Dem amendment, which would ensure the SNP was …

Posted in News, Scotland | Also tagged john farquhar munro, scottish lib dems, snp, tavish scott | 2 Comments

Tavish vetoes SNP independence referendum hopes

By Stephen Tall | Published 26th February 2009 - 4:48 pm

Despite Lord (Paddy) Ashdown’s public declaration last week that the Lib Dems should support a referendum on Scottish independence, Tavis Scott has made it clear he won’t budge – here’s today’s Daily Telegraph:

Tavish Scott, the Scottish Lib Dem leader told the Daily Telegraph he would rebuff any offers made by the First Minister because he did not want to be drawn into a constitutional “trap” that could threaten the Union. … The rejection leaves Mr Salmond with an almost impossible task to win the parliamentary majority he requires at Holyrood to get his Referendum Bill passed. Without the

…

Posted in News | Also tagged alex salmond, paddy ashdown, referendum, scottish lib dems, snp, tavish scott | 5 Comments

Paddy: Scottish Lib Dems wrong to veto independence referendum

By Stephen Tall | Published 17th February 2009 - 7:57 pm

The Scotsman reports on the intervention of former Lib Dem leader, Lord (Paddy) Ashdown:

THE Unionist parties in Scotland should back a referendum on independence to finish off the SNP as a political force once and for all, former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown has claimed. Lord Ashdown told The Scotsman that he believes his own party has got its tactics wrong in Scotland in dealing with the Nationalists. And he said that Wendy Alexander was on the right lines when she challenged First Minister Alex Salmond to “bring it on” and hold a referendum on independence. …

The former Liberal

…

Posted in News, Scotland | Also tagged paddy ashdown, referendum, scottish lib dems, snp | 4 Comments

Tag Archives: scottish independence

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

Search

Poll