NICOLA CAN LET SCOTLAND LOOK TO THE FUTURE:
THIS time last year, Scotland was holding its breath. The polls had narrowed and the seemingly incredible – that our 300year-old Union could be broken – was being talked of as a genuine possibility. Personally, as I travelled around Scotland campaigning in those last few days 12 months ago, I never doubted that we would win.
Not out of complacency – I just knew that the quiet majority of Scotland was on our side. Many hadn’t put up banners outside their house and they hadn’t staged protest marches on the street.
But I knew from standing on doorsteps and pounding the streets over the summer that thousands of people were determined to back Scotland’s place in the UK – and they were resolute.
I never quite realised how much our UK meant to me until we were fighting for its survival. I got the sense in those last few weeks that I shared that feeling with huge numbers of fellow Scots. This week, we mark the first anniversary of that historic vote. And the intervening year has only served to prove why we made the right choice 12 months ago.
It’s not just because, due to the collapse in the oil price, the financial case for separation has now been shredded entirely. The SNP knowingly misled people over oil and, had we voted Yes, that deception would now be leading Scotland off the economic cliff.
It’s also because we’re now delivering a new Union which will make good on our promise to ensure Scotland gets the best of both worlds.
The Conservative Government is delivering a powerhouse Scottish parliament in Edinburgh, with real powers over tax and welfare.
At the same time, we will always stand up to ensure that Scotland remains rock solid within a Union which underwrites our security, our economy and our sense of identity.
In other words, we’re delivering what the majority of Scots want: a process for Scotland to go its own way on health, education, tax and welfare – but still rooted as part of the most successful union of nations the world has ever seen.
For me, the issue is being settled. What’s vital now – a year on from last year’s referendum – is that we in Scotland have the chance to move on.
That’s what people right across Scotland now need. The small businessman looking to hire more staff needs some certainty to help him plan. The family looking at buying a new house needs some stability to know that the housing market is stable. The parents wondering whether this is the right place to bring up their children need the peace of mind of knowing that the country is moving forward.
FINALLY, the politicians need to be focusing on the real debate we face – how we build a fair and prosperous nation, how we nurture the best possible schools and how we sustain an NHS that gives everyone decent care and dignity. That’s why – fully a year on from the referendum – I am angry with the way the SNP has responded to the result. Rather than allowing Scotland to move on, it is determined to push Scotland back to the past – contrary to its own promises.
Repeatedly, before last year’s referendum, Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond assured people that the vote was ‘once in a generation’. The guarantee was even in the Scottish Government’s White Paper on independence. On top of that, both the UK and Scottish Governments signed an agreement to respect the outcome of the vote.
Yet today we learn that SNP Ministers have been campaigning behind the scenes to hold another referendum, possibly as soon as 2018 – only four years after the last vote.
If Scotland had voted for independence by even a single vote last year, those of us on the pro-UK side would have accepted the result and tried to ensure an independent Scotland did the best it could. That was the deal. That was why the UK Government made sure the referendum was legal and binding. But the blunt truth is that the SNP has broken its word on that deal.
Instead of showing similar good faith, the SNP woke up on September 19 last year and immediately began preparing for a rerun. Alex Salmond, never lacking in brash chutzpah, said a second referendum was ‘inevitable’. Nicola Sturgeon has been offering weasel words, saying she has no plans for a second referendum, yet insisting she cannot rule one out. Now we learn today that she is talking up the prospect of a second independence referendum, possibly within the next few years depending on circumstances.
The First Minister appears to want to ride two horses: telling Scotland that there won’t be a referendum, all the while giving a nod to her supporters that they just have to sit tight and one will be delivered soon.
This complete failure of leadership has consequences. For businesses, the uncertainty over whether there will be a second referendum is another unnecessary problem for them to deal with. For investors, it is another risk which may persuade them to back an enterprise in Manchester or Birmingham, not Glasgow or Edinburgh.
And for many of us living in Scotland – who believed in good faith that the referendum last year would be a decisive conclusion to the debate, as promised – it is a needless extra worry to add to all the rest of our daily issues.
I am not for a minute arguing that the SNP should abandon its support of independence. That is what the party is there for and, much as I disagree with its position, I believe it has every right to make its case.
But as the governing party in Scotland, the SNP needs to remember the whole of Scotland, not just its supporters. It should be good to its word. Referendums are once in a generation events. That’s the message Nicola Sturgeon gave last year and I believe that she should be held to account.
So this week, as we mark the first anniversary, I will be calling on her simply to repeat her own words: that the referendum truly was an event to be held once in a generation.
No slippery phrases. No escape clauses. She just needs to say it plainly. A clear, unequivocal statement from the SNP would give Scottish families – and Scottish businesses - confidence and certainty that the events of last year are settled.
I also believe it would be good for the First Minister herself. There is no doubting she has become a popular First Minister over the past year. But she risks losing the goodwill and trust of people by being evasive on this issue. Showing she is prepared to put country before party would demonstrate her to be a stateswoman. Putting the narrow Nationalist cause before the needs of the nation would diminish her and the office she holds.
The facts are these. Last year, Scotland held the debate on our future. We held a free and fair referendum. We voted to remain part of the United Kingdom. Now we need to move on.
Only one person can end the uncertainty – Nicola Sturgeon. She now faces a choice. Stick to her own words, uphold the responsibilities of her office and do the right thing for Scotland, proving she heard the nation’s voice last year. Or fail to honour her own promises, wreck her reputation and trap Scotland in the past.
What’s vital now is that we all move on from the referendum