Referendum

‘‘Should Scotland be an independent country ?’’ Yes or no? Hundreds of thousands of expat Scots around the world are being denied the right to vote in this vitally important referendum that will determine the future of their birth country.

The minister for government strategy, Bruce Crawford, told the Scottish Parliament, and the world, that the registration and the validation of entitlement to vote would ‘‘add significant complexity to the task of electoral professionals in organising and running this referendum’’.

So . . . sorry folks, it’s too hard for us logistically to get to you! Funny; I always thought that Scots excelled at this sort of thing.

He added that there was some evidence that the United Nations Human Rights Committee might question the legitimacy of a referendum ‘‘if the franchise is not territorial’’, ie, for residents only. One would have thought that the opposite would more likely apply.

Indeed, in the House of Lords, Labour’s Baroness Symons called for the whole of the United Kingdom to be included in any plebiscite claiming that ‘‘any break-up of the United Kingdom will affect all of us in the UK’’.

It always pays to try to see both sides of any debate.

However, the fairness of this mass exclusion has to be considered and even, surely, its legality questioned.

Were I a Scotsman I would be feeling more than a little rebellious! STEPHEN NEWMAN Timaru