Life after independence, as seen by head of the Yes Scotland campaign
In on Blair Jenkins’ exclusive web chat sits
BLAIR Jenkins, chief executive of the Yes scotland campaign, yesterday claimed independence would ease tensions between holyrood and Westminster, during a live webchat on scotsman.com
Answering questions from Scotsman readers and website users, Mr Jenkins predicted the often frosty relationship between the two parliaments would thaw in the event of a Yes vote.
In an hour-long session, he answered about 20 questions on a variety of issues. the key proposition intact – that scotland should be an independent country. I think the EC recommendation of clarity from both the UK and scottish governments on what process will follow the referendum result presents a particular challenge and call to action for David Cameron.
important thing about the recommended spending limits is that they ensure a level playing field between the broad Yes and No campaigns. The scottish Green Party is on the advisory board of Yes scotland and we will certainly discuss with them how best to maximise the impact of the campaign.
most effective response to terrorist threats is countries working together on an international basis and an independent scotland would be part of that coordinated effort. In particular, there would be a high degree of defence and intelligence co-operation between scotland and the other countries in the British Isles.
will be important that any future arrangements concerning the operation of the sterling zone between scotland and the rest of the UK are structured in a way that serves the interests of the scottish people. I have noted that Alistair Darling has said it would be “desirable” for scotland to continue to use the pound in the event of a Yes vote, and also “logical” for the rest of the UK as well.
launch a year ago was an exciting event. since then we’ve been building the biggest grass-roots campaign scotland has ever seen. We do have very high levels of support among scotland’s artistic and creative talents and that is an important part of our campaign.
believe arguments between scotland and Westminster are much less likely when scotland is independent. Relations between the two countries have always been close. Like everybody else, I have lots of family and friends south of the Border and that will continue unchanged when we are independent.