BRING BACK INDEPENDENCE?

Someone clever once said “Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail”. Well, we’ve had over 300 years of the inability to plan for ourselves and I for one am sick to the back teeth of having to listen to a less than mediocre annual school report.   

Is it time for a ‘Better’ Scotland? It’s certainly time to take a good hard look at our lot in the grand scheme of things and answer one question honestly. That is, as individuals and as a nation could we be doing better? For me there is no need for qualifications in economics, business or science to answer this question but rather a simple belief that if we again have the courage to accept ownership of our own affairs we will certainly perform better individually and collectively – that’s my logic at any rate.

For many years I have tried to understand the reasons why many of my fellow Scots have reservations about returning to a state of independence. In everyday conversations for some twenty years I have mentioned the proposition and listened especially carefully if given a negative reaction – and there were many. However, it wasn’t until studying at Stirling University in my late 20’s that I really understood a basic truth in life. Any change to a routine, comfortable or otherwise, will have both positive and negative physiological impacts. Take the simple analogy of trading your old car in for a newer model. On the positive side many will just accept the car will be better just because it’s newer and therefore should be, for others the fact that it is different and somewhat unknown will occupy their mind with varying degrees of doubt.

Unfortunately for the cause of Scottish Independence the negative impact or effect is usually increased relative to the time the routine has been operating. Oh yes, it’s been over 300 years! But, there is still hope, routines can reach maturity and peak, at which point the negativity is gradually replaced with an appetite for change associated with a reduction of perceived risk. In a nutshell, confidence grows via our experience and improved understanding. In Scotland, and the present UK as a whole, I believe, as I believe many others do, that we are on the right side of this peak and it is indeed now time for innovative and progressive change.  

Scotland has increasingly been held back by the natural bias of the UK to be centrally governed in a manner that puts the interests of the biggest shareholder to the fore and consequently the other regions are compromised in terms of policy relevance, design, effectiveness and efficiency. The fact is that the only way a truly united kingdom would not suffer from this eccentric centralism would be for each member region to have equal parliamentary and administrative representation! And, since this would be an obvious ‘unthinkable’ compromise for the present majority shareholder, needless to say an incredibly inefficient arrangement for all, we must concern ourselves fully with the real task of bringing back a non-dependant Scotland. Another well disguised truth, independence is simply a return to our original non-dependent sovereign state.

So, can a non-dependent Scotland really do better? Just imagine once again having the full range of powers to Plan, Implement and Evaluate (PIE) at the highest level for the benefit of the Scottish people. No more reserved areas of control where Scotland is effectively limited to subservient implementation duties, where the management cycle is controlled by the UK complete with the aforementioned bias and inefficiency. Could it really be as simple as PIE? For myself and many others there is absolutely no doubt  that the focused and tailored management of our own affairs will indeed deliver improved economic strength and provide solid foundations for the benefit of the Scottish people for centuries to come.

Forget the recent analogy with performing dwarfs for the real challenge is to awake the sleeping beauty that is our very own Scotland. If anyone has hit the nail directly on the head with a full blown hammer swing it has to be John Swinney with “Release Our Potential”. Unfortunately, whilst intellectually succinct, it lacked popular appeal, that is to say it didn’t communicate well with the majority. If there is one thing that will secure the delivery of our aspiration to again manage this release of potential it is the execution of a meticulously planned and well delivered communication strategy. Half of being is believing, and to believe we must be convinced via our experiences and understanding.

For the battle hardened warriors this branded delivery style might seem somewhat inappropriate for Scottish politics. For example, they might rightly point to the now old New Labour spin machine that created hope and optimism but rarely delivered more than a hologram of performance change. However, as we are serious and confident we can deliver tangible improvements for Scotland then I believe we must seize this hard won opportunity and plan and execute the most innovative and direct means of communications in a manner hitherto unseen in ours or any other political arena.

Let’s have the courage to use different and unconventional tools – to take some risks in communicating our message. Let’s have the will and stamina to think deeper, harder and more positively than the unionists think is possible. Let’s be imaginative and portray and display our messages and efforts to the majority in a manner they can easily relate to. Let’s be prepared to honour and communicate our vision for change with the hard specifics. But, most of all, let’s go about it in a manner that reflects the passion of who we are and what we strive to bring back.  

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