The Indepedence Debate

Migration studies have always used the concept of ‘Push’ and ‘Pull’ factors to analyse the reasons why patterns change.  Push factors are those aspects of people’s current location about which they are dissatisfied – lack of job opportunities, low earnings, poor housing and amenities, problems with social relationships.  Pull factors are the attractions of other destinations  - better jobs, better environment, new experiences.  Unless you are dealing with ‘forced’ migration because of events like war or ethnic cleansing, Push factors alone will not make people move.  No matter how miserable your conditions, there is no incentive to risk change unless you believe there is some prospect of life being better and no matter how attractive prospects may appear, people wont go if they have no dissatisfaction with their current location.

This has obvious relevance for the independence debate.  To be successful, there needs to be both Push and Pull factors, the negative and the positive.  This applies to any movement for radical change.  The Push and Pull factors need not just be about personal or family self-interest; they can involve altruistic concerns about the welfare of others or the general quality of social life or the environment.  A successful campaign needs to keep a sharp positive and negative edge and it could be argued that this is currently missing. There are a wide range of relevant and legitimate issues that have come into the independence debate but they are not always linked into a clear theme.  Of course, even if a coherent story is promoted, it is not easy to ensure that it will get through the filter of a largely hostile press but the starting point has to have a clear story to tell.  The banking crisis was disorienting for some but it also offered strong negative ammunition.  So what are the important Push factors?

Britain is in many respects a failed state because:

1. It failed to regulate the financial system and allowed the banks to behave recklessly without any restraint because it has been dominated by the interests of the City.
2. It based economic growth on excessive levels of personal debt, higher than in any other country.
3. It has produced growing inequality with the gap between rich and poor increasing because of the dominant influence of the hyper-rich on the state.
4. Its delusions of imperial grandeur has led us into disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan at great cost in lives and money. 
5. It clings to nuclear weapons for status not defence reasons and in addition to the current costs is now proposing an extravagant Trident renewal programme.

What are the important Pull factors?  Independence would give Scots the tools to develop a better quality of life, a more socially just society and to make a positive international contribution.

1. Scotland is a nation very rich in natural resources – space, water, oil, gas, vast renewable energy potential.  We have the resources for a very good and sustainable life for all our citizens.
2. Scotland could be a much more egalitarian society, improving life for the poorest but this needs full economic powers.
3. Scotland could make a significant international contribution to nuclear disarmament.  All of the UK’s nuclear weapons capacity is here and could not realistically be relocated in England.
4. Scotland has very successful higher education institutions which can contribute to a high-skill economy and culturally rich society.
5. Scotland could improve working hours and conditions if it was free of British constraints.

Scotland could help those seeking reform in England by developing a model of a more socially just and environmentally responsible society. 

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