Constitutional Change

The yes vote is not about 'separation' - its about a healthier partnership in the British Isles and a more prosperous Scotland. I believe in de-centralised government which works for other countries.

This is not about nationalism either, its about constitutional change and about all who wish to live in Scotland  - and for better education, health service and infrastructure and that children will not live in dire poverty in our rich country. We never voted here for our taxes to be used for illegal wars or nuclear weapons in Scotland.  

I believe we can do a better job. If Scotland is one of the wealthiest countries I have to ask why so many of our children live in dire poverty. I grew up in Edinburgh, lived in America ten years and I was shocked by the areas of deprivation in the West of Scotland.

My older son works as a paediatric dentist and he has to do many full mouth extractions for 3 years olds with rotten teeth (they are given bottles with Irn Bru!) Dentists come from all over the world to practice filling and drilling here as they cant’ do so in their own countries!  And yes it is possible for children to grow up now with NO fillings. It really is quite shocking as an indicator of the deprivation and lack of education. What is wrong?  They have tried breakfast programs to improve general health but much more needs to be done.  

Studies have shown that Improved equality works for all and raises standards for all citizens - wheras gross inequality  does the opposite. .   

A society in charge of its own destiny is a healthier, happier and more prosperous one - and we are not in charge with only one Tory MP and a Tory led administration that is privatising health, education and more.

I don't believe that politicians who govern in Westminster and an out of touch Etonian elite do or have done a good job for decades, I feel I have no voice in what Westminster does or doesn’t do.

We know other countries are able to function within Europe - so why not Scotland? Why do we need to be dependent on Westminster making our decision for us? 

Does it all come down to how we see Devo Max or what the difference between Independence and Devo Max is. That's why its a constitutional question.  Women are especially afraid of independence. Do they feel more secure in a UK that enters wars run by war criminals? We will still have a close working partnership in the UK, in Europe and the UN - don't believe the scaremongerers! Scotland is a strategically important country.

London has become a centre for foreign billionaires who are driving property prices there sky high and those such as nurses and teachers can't afford to live there.

Scotland needs to break away from this false bubble and create a healthier, more prosperous country for all - one that prioritises co-operation, integration and shared wealth. 

Could we believe that we can build a better country – improve NHS management, education standards, encourage business, increase social mobility, increase investment in our infra -structure and in research and development. Rebuild Scotland’s fractured fishing industry and ship building.

No other country has such a centralised government. I don’t’ hate London, I just don’t believe London’s government works for Scotland’s best interests. 

The Better Together offer the status quo. If you believe Scotland can do better vote yes.

And the question is perhaps, can a Westminster government work for the best interests of the people of Scotland? Has it done so the past fifty years? These are the important questions before us now – they matter for the kind of future country we might wish for future generations who wish to live and work in Scotland.  

Only a Scottish government can work for the best interests of all those who live in Scotland.  I hope there is a better way, and hope matters, without vision what is there?

What's wrong with the NHS?

The NHS is run by incompetent idiots. 

People will not realise that consultants are selected these days purely based on interview skills (these skills are NOT taught in our schools or colleges) - and that no scores or account are taken of job performance or portfolios such as exams.

What other business or profession recruits their trainee staff based on interview technique alone? 

The GPs - general practitioners, who basically hand out prescriptions - earn twice as much as highly trained hospital consultants!  (In America there are no GPs!)

And the NHS treats their junior hospital doctors like robotic slaves who do not deserve toilet breaks or to eat on 12 hour shifts. How can this be good for patient care when those doing the ground work are close to fainting with exhaustion? 

This is all due to poor management from on high somewhere and the loss of the ward matrons. While there are other hospital staff standing around doing nothing… makes no sense.    

No one wants to complain or say anything for fear of their training positions. 

I'm posting this for all those who are deluded into thinking the NHS is a scared institution. While we do have wonderful doctors. 

I'm pretty disgusted at the NHS have to say.

Backing Research and Infrastructure

It's no wonder our streets in Scotland are full of pot holes - which are highly dangerous for both cyclists and car drivers! .

According to the Sunday Times our devolved Scottish Parliament is only responsible for 15% of its budget! This surprised me. The latest is that Labour, Lib Dems and Tories may 'allow' MSPs a 50% responsibility of the parliament's 35Bm budget and allow MSPs to decide on rates and income tax.

I also hear that English academics claim Scotland punches above its weight with regard to scientific research and as a result gets more than its share of the UK budget for research.  The argument then goes, much as it did back in the 1979 vote, that academics will receive less funding under an independent Scotland?  This is harking back to bribery again and again which has proved false in the past. I don't believe for one minute Scotland is financially better off within the UK. I believe that a Scottish government after independence would offer MORE funding for both academic and industry research and not less!  

Academically we greatly benefit by having our own Scottish education system.    

All makes we wonder greatly.. over the state of our roads and trains! The paper also said that 72% of the money spent on the UKs infrastructure is spent in London

The Big Banks

Its so predictable - now the Insurance companies and Banks are threatening to pull out of Scotland if Osborne won't 'allow' a common currency (which is in England's interests too). I say good riddance to the big banks! They try to claim they rescue us, when actually their financial speculations are what has been ruining the economy! Its not in England interests to threaten and bully.

After an Independence vote the idea is that we all work together for an even more successful economy!  We'd be much better off with smaller high street banks that care about local businesses. I believe in de-centralized government. 

The Financial Times, which is respected worldwide for economic news, has not been putting forward arguments against Scotland's Independence.

I don't like this expression used by some - 'going it alone' - Scotland does not intend to float out into outer space but to work closely for trade with Europe and elsewhere.

The problem is that the 'Better Together' campaign have not been able to come up with any convincing arguments  - so instead they resort to old fashioned scare tactics. If anyone has heard any thoughts as to why we are better tied to London's financial apron strings I'd be happy to hear them!   

I decided to set up a BLOG on the Scottish Independence debate as I have so many blogs on it -  http://yesforscotland.blogspot.co.uk/

 

The Scottish Narrative

With our present system the Scottish Narrative gets lost. I know that many talented young Scottish people – young film directors, young economists, young songwriters, young accountants, young health workers and more – feel they have to move to London for work reasons.  

This can be called a brain drain, which is not at all good for Scotland  

For example – a young Scottish film maker has to attend London pitches and put forward a Scottish story to a London executive who may not understand the Scottish perspective and narrative.  

Much riskier staying in the UK! The vote is not about nationalism or borders, and hopefully for a better partnership with England. The vote is about an economy that suits Scotland, removing Trident, owning our oil, and the hope for a more equal society. Norway and Finland are both success stories of why independence works!   

Years back we were driving through France – we drove through Nice over to Marseille, thru Lyons and by Paris – and I thought France has several major cities and Paris isn’t the largest either. Also with Italy there are several important cities – Naples, Rome, Milan, Florence and Bologna.  The UK has one major city of London.

This Scottish Independence conversation....

This Scottish Independence debate is not about ‘nationality’ but about where power lies.

Both Germany and America have a Federal style of government – that is every state runs their own affairs and the central government decides on foreign policy and roads.  

The questions for me are moving Trident from the Clyde for starters, devolving powers in both education and the health service, and one of confidence and choice!  If we look at the Scandinavian countries Finland and Norway - both have done very well since gaining their Independence from Sweden a 100 years ago. Norway is a sea faring nation very similar to Scotland. 

This is not about 'breaking away' but a new type of government - the UK model is a broken one.

A Conversation. We in Scotland all need to have a ‘conversation’ about Scottish independence and mostly this is not happening.

Also …. perhaps the rest of England needs to break away from Superstate London also.

Those that support independence feel inhibited about voicing their views.

My Life BLOGs

I continue a few pieces for my Life Blogs - Youth Violence, Kate and Morning sickness, Social Mobility, Independence, The NHS. I write when events move me - sometimes poems, sometimes blogs. And sometimes words can make a difference and that's wonderful.

Twenty years ago I wrote about the Youth cafe's I came across in Finland when I was 17 as an inviting place forteenagers to meet and hang out. It is good to see these now locally. What spurred me to write was someone writing in the local paper that there was plenty of places for both families and young people!  I thought - where!?

I wrote about youth violence in Scotland after a neighbour's son was tragically killed. He was a 22 year old rugby player and he was waiting outside a club on Sauchiehall street on the night of an Old Firm game when two youths, one carrying a baseball bat, hit him and he fell on his head. Apparently these youths were running about and had hit several people that night, according to those in A & E.  I heard much later these youths only received a few years in jail. Lesson is - don't go into town on the night of an Old Firm game!  Hooligans love an excuse to vent their angers.      

I have written about pregnancy and I have much to write on being a parent and education (more to follow!). I am a mother of three grown up children and I taught in primary schools. 

I wrote mostly in private to papers in the past but now I have a voice on my blog.

Scottish Independence: YES to the Future

Yes Scotland! It was great to see the blue and white flags at the independence rally Edinburgh.  And I am tired of the Union Jack propaganda everywhere these days….bags, bottle tops etc. And why on earth are we ‘better together’ financially, while super state London builds up its own ifrastructure1? Can anyone explain? Our independence is not about political parties, but about our freedoms, confidence and the future for our children. 

Today in 2012 I notice Union Jack bread and biscuits in the shops and it all reminds me of the Big Media campaign back in 1979 that manipulated peoples' fears of change and told us we were too small a country to be able to fend for ourselves and plotted against our hoped for self-determination. This time, while the campaign is a more subtle one, I have to wonder that it may back fire on them as I choose to purchase Scottish cheese. I have taken several months to write my thoughts on Scottish Independence and I have had several decades to think it all over!

In ‘79 we were told that not enough people had voted even though the majority voted for independence. After this, some Scots were disillusioned and left Scotland. I left Scotland myself in 1980 for America and returned here in 1989.  Turmoil can create great art though and after ’79 in the eighties there was a revival of Scottish art, music and writing. Since then there has also been a revival in Scottish pride and culture. Back in the 70s there were fewer ceilidhs and kilts were rarely seen at events or on the high streets and there was less pride in our Scottish heritage. Pride in our history, heritage and culture is the only positive way forward.

This debate is not about flag waving. The problem for those who like to wave flags, is that a prosperous country is one that is inclusive, encourages equality, is forward thinking, flexible, adaptable, responsive and well educated - and I dont' believe that the London UK government can offer Scotland the opportunities and values that could possibly deliver these important criterion for a successful future. Most Scots believe in equality, which is the best way forward for an efficient and prosperous country. 

We have to seriously ask ourselves what is wrong in Scotland when we have the eight biggest economy in the developed world and yet we have a quarter of our children living in poverty and an archaic infrastructure with old trains and impossible, dangerous roads? Aberdeen is booming and yet it is traffic clogged.  The elitist hierarchy UK model is not working for us. Equality brings prosperity for all.

Independence will mean a Scotland that is a more outward looking, confident country and hopefully one able to cheer England, our closest neighbours, at the Rugby Internationals the way a free Ireland is now able to!  It is important that we celebrate Scottish artists, writers and musicians as we don't always recognise the talent on our own doorsteps. Scottish music has gained good respect worldwide in recent years and artists are no longer required to have a deal in London and are able to access their audience directly via the networking sites online.

We should feel free to voice our differences and to be proud of them as our voices may at times feel lost in today's world of mass communications and our vast media world of globalization. Fast communication is wonderful and accelerates learning but it also can mean we loose creativity and the power to question and can lead to uniformity and playing it safe. We only move forward when we question and challenge. That’s what punk, the 60s the revolution were all about. It’s about saying ‘stuff that’ – it’s stupid nonsense. Sometimes it needs to be rough edged, off the edge, no rules. 

Debate. I attended an interesting debate entitled ‘What Does the Union Mean for Scotland?’ at the Edinburgh Book festival 2011. Leading the debate were Lib Dem Mingus Campbell, SNP Michael Russell and highly knowledgeable historian Neil Ascherson, who proved an  informed and interesting speaker. The arguments for the UK union sounded dated, old and negative while the arguments for Scottish Independence sounded forward thinking, positive and inclusive.  

Oil. The UK has a highly centralised government in which London has already set itself up as a superstate.  In other countries there are several major cities. London sucks in the Financial sector, the Big Banks, the army, media, civil servants and more service industries. Scottish Oil revenues were lost when the UK Government created a fictional country called ‘Dogger’ to collect North Sea Oil revenues. My husband works as a chemical engineer in the oil industry and there are still plenty of oil reserves and possibly more oil on Scotland’s western shores.  

We have to seriously ask ourselves what is wrong in Scotland when we have the eighth biggest economy in the developed world and yet we have a quarter of our children living in poverty and an archaic infrastructure with old trains and impossible, dangerous roads? Aberdeen is booming and yet it is traffic clogged. The elitist hierarchy UKmodel is not working for us. Equality brings prosperity for all.

For me independence is inevitable and it now seems that the UK model is a broken one. Quote: 'The UK is a Broken Model: We need to rethink the State, so that in 100 years we will still be able to pay pensions, have a sustainable community and eliminate the gross inequality of globalization.' Alex Bell former SNP senior advisor.   

My own story is somewhat unusual.  My family are from Union Jack waving Unionist Ulster Northern Ireland. I used to visit Ireland growing up and I was struck by the differences between the Scottish people and the Irish. The Irish appeared more confident and outgoing and sure of their future, while by contrast the Scots lacked confidence and had a chip on their shoulders. When I was able to vote, I believed that Scotland needed more say over its own affairs and not to feel second rate and beholden to the government in London - I have voted SNP ever since. I also spent ten years in the US (Cincinnati and Chicago) where my two older children were born. America has a more de-centralized government where each state runs it's own affairs. The federal government decides on roads and on defence and Americans believe strongly in people running their own local affairs.   

Perhaps as I come from the edges and can clearly see two sides, I am able to see the one picture more clearly and I am convinced that independence is the right way forward. Scotland has its own history, culture, education and law. Some claim we are Better Together in the UK. Do they mean better in a rigid elitist hierarchy that allows no social mobility?

*Today I noticed Scottish shortbread in a London red bus tin in M and S and I wondered was this "British" shortbread? Scotland badly needs its own identity and pride restored again as a positive way forward. The Scottish people once led the world in innovative thinking and we do not need to feel second class or dependant on London charity. We only have to look to countries like Norway (or Finland), also with a small population and oil reserves, to see strong independent success stories.

I am a long time SNP supporter and I voted for independence back in 1979 - it has been along road getting here, but we are here at long last and its' an opportunity we cannot let slip by again. I have no idea why some claim we are better or stronger together - this vote is not about separation or division but about a better and stronger working partnership for the UK.  Inevitably the scare tactics will start again and we have to try to keep focused on the right way forward for our country.

Back in 1979 we were told we should be afraid of Scottish self determination – why? We should be more afraid of London setting our rules. To every time there is a reason and a right way to be – the tides of time tell us the right way to be and the right way forward. All the indications point in one direction…

What does 'Independence' mean?  To me it is not about 'Borders', but about making our own decisions in Scotland over issues like taking charge of our own resources such as oil, not entering illegal wars, not having trident in the Clyde, making greener town centres, de-centralising healthcare, and about feeling our votes can make a difference.

This debate is not about political parties but what kind of country we want for our children. Let's not miss this big opportunity to have our own voice.    

People's Festival Ceilidhs    
Henderson was instrumental in bringing about the Edinburgh People's Festival Ceilidh in 1951, which placed traditionally performed Scottish folk music on the public stage for the first time as "A Night of Scottish Song". However, the People's Festival, of which it was part, was planned as a left-wing competitor to the Edinburgh Festival and was deeply controversial. At the event, Henderson performed a song, to the tune of Scotland the Brave, which glorified John Maclean, a communist and Scottish nationalist hero.

However, the event marked the first time that Scotland's traditional folk music was performed on a public stage. The performers included Flora MacNeil, Calum Johnston, John Burgess, Jessie Murray, John Strachan, and Jimmy MacBeath. The event was extremely popular and was regarded as the beginning of the second British folk revival. Henderson continued to host the events every year until 1954, when the Communist ties of several members of the Peoples Festival Committee led to the Labour Party declaring it a "Proscribed Organisation". Losing the financial support of the local trades unions, the Peoples Festival was permanently cancelled.

The British NHS needs De-Centralized

The British NHS is in desperate need of being De-Centralized and Reformed. It is the System itself that is failing. 

I wonder that we have forgotten what the NHS was originally set up to do - that is to provide good quality patient care. I have two children working as medical health professionals in the British NHS and I am both shocked and saddened by what they tell me. Patient notes are lost and basic care is neglected - such as patients being unable to reach their drinking water - and staff moral is very low.  

When the National health service was originally conceived I am sure it met a clear public service. Sadly today it appears to be a gigantic and badly managed business with ever increasing demands. The first step required, as I see it, is to de-centralised this over-bloated industry. Centralized control does not work with such a massive operation - and how can local requirements be met that way? 

We urgently need to take a look at health care systems worldwide that do work for patient care and work with no waiting lists.  How on earth can they achieve this?  I don't view America as having the perfect health care model though - I lived there for ten years and I had two children there and one child here in Scotland. It is vitally important we look at countries where the health systems ARE working for good quality care - such as in France, Sweden or Germany. One way to make improvements is that those who can afford to pay do pay. This happens in France where there are no waiting lists. This happens already in dentistry and dentists are not under such severe pressures.  

That's not to say that there are not pockets of top quality care in the service. I know several who have received excellent treatment for serious illness.

The reality is that if young medics are treated like robotic slaves and expected to work 12 hour shifts with no toilet breaks or food breaks - the system is in crisis. As they only have 4 monthly contracts now they are unable to rent accommodation near the hospitals and then they are expected to drive long distances home at dawn after such long shifts - what are we asking them to do? One young girl was killed recent in Ayrshire driving home after her 13 hour shift. Another young medic had to have a catheter fitted because she had been unable to take a toilet break. I ask myself what on earth is going on?    

How can well meaning medical staff provide the best care when they are treated badly by  a management that sits in its ivory towers and never comes down to see how it all works at the ground floor?  I'd like to tell Mr Cameron - medical staff are practically shedding blood to provide as decent a health service that they can while they are hampered by an  inadequate management system. 

I read that there is now an untrained army of medical assistants who are basically doing what nurses used to do, but with no skills to do it. While nursing staff is burdened with paper work. Why were the nursing bosses (the matrons) scrapped and I hear that the new ward managers are not clinically trained.    

The socialist ideology is that competition doesn't work (?) and that instead we should all be motivated by Targets. Now these targets require a huge amount of paperwork that no one ever reads (and this happens in education also). Well in the real world that I live in, what drives and motivates people to do better and achieve higher standards is 'competition' - sorry academics.     

Another issue that needs addressed – to inform patients perhaps with leaflets or posters about when they should be contacting their doctor and that if they take up the doctors time for no real reason it takes services away from those in real need.  Medical treatment is NOT limitless or free!  If we as patients waste these resources, if we waste hospitals and doctors time with unnecessary visits, it takes away from critical medical treatments.

Our out-of-date and over protected health service is desperately in need of improved management which includes better treatment of medical staff. The politicians like to blame the medical professionals...it is time to sit up and realise it's the System itself that is failing! 

The NHS is not free either, someone has to pay for all the equipment, training for staff and ever more expensive drugs!  The recent scandal of neglect for patients at Staffordshire hospital has brought all this into focus.  Who dares to speak up? 

Scottish Pride

In ‘79 we were told that not enough people had voted even though the majority voted for independence. After this, some Scots were disillusioned and left Scotland. I left Scotland myself in 1980 for America and returned here in 1989.  Turmoil can create great art though and after ’79 in the eighties there was a revival of Scottish art, music and writing. 

Since then there has also been a revival in Scottish pride and culture. Back in the 70s there were fewer ceilidhs and kilts were rarely seen at events or on the high streets and there was less pride in our Scottish heritage.