We should all have our say on the Union

PITY us wee poor English who have become used to high-minded and insular comments from the

SNP leadership about “democratic mandates being frustrated”, and “it’s for the people of Scotland to decide their own future”.

Unfortunately, if the Scottish do eventually decide to set up an independent state, then this has major implications for the rest of us in the Union. So, to extend the concept of “democratic mandates”, then all of the rest of us should be asked about the future of the Union.

Also, these high-minded comments rankle with us south of the border because we know that the London and South East regions are effectively heavily subsidising the Scottish economy through such mechanisms as the Barnett formula.

So yes, again, we must be asked if there are to be major constitutional changes that affect the Union. A referendum for one should mean a referendum for all.

And, no, no region of the Union can hold an unofficial or illegal referendum of their own. The results would quickly be discredited by Westminster, and it seems likely that other political parties than the SNP, (Labour and Conservative) would not support it.

Similarly, the electorate turnout is likely to be low, thereby generating an argument about how valid an unofficial vote on a major constitutional issue could ever be.

It is tragic that the Scottish people seem to have partly succumbed to the idea that they are being given a choice by the SNP via a referendum.

They aren’t – because no sane person (and the Scots are canny, are they not?) would vote to be worse off, come the day.

Unfortunately, a new Scottish independent state would be in trouble very quickly from: escalating national debt; inability to truly fund the aspirations of the new state; a deteriorating currency worth very little against the pound and the dollar; a brain drain south and abroad; a general depopulation by disaffected new nationals; a battle with higher taxation and reduced public services; movers and shakers taking their assets out of Scotland; the aristocracy and leading families taking their assets out of the country; a popular revolt driven by poverty, debt and descension, and an unwillingness of either the remaining Union or the EU to bail out the failed state.

Does this look like a real choice to anyone? Of course not. Let’s hope the Scots really are canny after all.

Elizabeth Smith Woodmancote