Amid all the debate about oil, currency, pensions and a million other items, I’m surprised higher questions have not been asked about our cultural identity. I’ve never said I’m British in my life, I’m Scottish, but the full story is more subtle than that.
Despite being a football fan, a Scot and a Gordon Strachan fan, I watched another channel when Germany-Scotland was on. My sense of personal identity, the anthems I cherish, the emblems I’ve always worn, my ‘national’ community, is the one I share with you.
I know we have a large number of England-supporting, English-Celtic fans here, just as there are Ireland-supporting, Irish, and Scotland-supporting Scots, but some of us feel our strongest affinity among our urban, west of Scotland-based, Celtic community. This community will only ever march behind a green flag. There is nothing wrong or unpatriotic about this, finding your own identity is what multiculturalism is all about.
There are a thousand more national identities than actual nations, but why do many of us feel more like sons of Jock Stein, than Jock Tamson, or (cough) John Bull?
I don’t think there is a single British, or Scottish, cultural institution I feel an attachment to. I was really caught up with the whole Mo Farah/Jessica Ennis-inspired Super Saturday at the Olympics – delighted at the success of British athletes, but later that day, when Ki stepped forward to take the decisive kick for South Korea against GB, I punched the air with joy. The whole Burns Night thing feels like someone else’s party.
In fact, it’s worse than not having an affinity with a British cultural institution, our Celtic community is marginalised by competitors in the south. If Scotland, which is perhaps more bound-up in tribal football culture than anywhere on the planet, had EQUAL access to the UK’s cultural markets, would we feel so excluded?
I know there are many who are happy with the way sentiment is going right now, but if those intent on saving the union want to get busy on some urgent nation-building, they should set about removing the two-tier cultural divide which keeps our club, our community, from the top table. We pay an obligatory BBC tax to subsidise an England and Wales league, our non-tax-based pay TV money goes the same way. This is a distorted market, with Scotland obscured by an England-Wales cartel. As a result we’ve been drained of talent and financial muscle for a century.
Football is not controlled by politicians, but it can be, and is, influenced by them. Westminster is speaking with a more unified voice than I’ve ever known right now. Its voice should be clear: Scotland needs equal access to the UK’s cultural markets, including football.
Our exclusion is intolerable, unfair, has fermented disaffection and must end, irrespective of what happens next week. Why would Westminster politicians be unable to say this?
Let’s hear you.
The fantastic new edition of CQN Magazine is out today. You can read it, for free, here, at it’s dedicated site (don’t try to read on the graphic below).
[calameo code=0003901718cdc4362fa2e? lang=en page=122 hidelinks=1 width=100% height=500]
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NatKnow
10:26 on
10 September, 2014
I appreciate that it was more than slightly optimistic for what might happen in the aftermath but I think the motivation we’ve seen across both sides has been fantastic. I’d far rather than than the apathy of 60-65% turn outs for the last to General Elections.
Whichever side wins, the other side do need to keep involved and get reasons why promises made aren’t met, if that’s the case.
weeminger
10:45 on 10 September, 2014
So long as everyone is clear from the start that the referendum is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
No one wants the nats to come out after a no vote and tell us they were lying about that.
Once in a lifetime.
BMCUW
William Hague is not PM, nor the deputy. The leader of the opposition is also not attending, will it be the same event and carry the same weight and publicity?
We shall see.
Monteblanco
You probably think knowing me is an accident!
In my thinking there are none. :)
.
Philvis..
Spiders.. ?
Beware if the Sausage Fly..【ツ】
Summa
abhoysabhoy – yes indeed.
The Better Together campaign has made a terrible hash of things and I fear the frantic last minute scrabbling of the main UK parties won’t help.
Talk of financial armageddon is off the mark. What will happen in the short term, if a Yes vote is returned, is a severe market correction and capital flight (already begun) from Scotland. The financial services industry, which is huge compared to Scotland’s GDP, will shrink to a husk of its current size. A lot of folks in Edinburgh will be looking for new jobs or moving south.
This will be painful and, in my view, pointless, but not armageddon. Economic armageddon is when you need a wheelbarrow full of cash to buy a loaf of bread. The proposed independent Scotland would be using a foreign currency so hyperinflation is not likely.
Longer term, Scotland will face significant structural challenges. I know the SNP has made it sound like everybody will have a free pony made of solid gold, but the reality is Scotland will be dealing with the following:
* a large but as yet undefined share of the UK’s national debt
* a large share of the UK’s unfunded pension liabilities
* no central bank (unless the rump UK government agrees to provide a financial backstop to a foreign country, and why would they?)
* Years of budget deficits, according to the SNP’s own figures, which will mean a progressively larger share of Scottish tax revenues go straight into interest payments.
* Heavy reliance on oil revenues, which will subject the Scottish budget to severe shocks in the event of falling oil prices – which is a near certainty as commodity prices tend towards volatility.
Can an independent Scotland work? Of course it can. But it will require belt tightening across the country, at all levels.
It will not be the land of free milk and honey Alex Salmond would have you believe.
The SNP is promising all things to all voters in this referendum:
* Independence AND a foreign central bank underwriting the nation’s debts
* Public spending increases AND tax cuts
* Expelling Trident AND Nato membership
* Environmentalism AND a thriving oil and gas industry
If it’s a Yes, a lot of people are going to be bitterly disappointed when the reality of life in Scotland doesn’t live up to the sunny predictions of Mr Salmond.
I give him credit though, he’s more convincing than the billionaire Craig Whyte. (thumbsup)
I heard that David Cameron is going to announce today than an independent Scotland will have to come up with a new Time Zone aligned to Iceland,
as the existing one is British Summer Time , and its not getting shared.
no siree , no way, and thats all there is about it.
Ever wondered what was in the case in Pulp Fiction?
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qH_tCxmug6E#
Recently, on my travels throughout this cookie world, I came across three impeccably clad individuals who we’re sitting around a table chuckling away.
They seemed to behold an aura which is usually at the behest of powerful men or at least those who hold a powerful secret.
My curiosity became more acute when I shimmied over to their table and heard them speak in muttered tones about duping the masses.
They spoke of property, control of many men and even infiltration of those in authority.
The laughter rose as the chatted about media manipulation.
The intrigue of this conversation reached a pinnacle when the one with the strange look in his gaze reached for a black briefcase, sat it upon the table they were huddled round and commenced determining the combination.
The turn of the first combination lock settled on the number six. With all eyes transfixed to the beholder’s thumb, another six was revealed with the settling of the second combination. The third and final wheel was meticulously turned to the third six.
At this, a stoney click could be heard. The case was open with mouth’s agog. A glow permeated from within.
Gasps filled the air.
The one I overheard them calling the Whyte Knight addressed his companions,
“Aye eh, behold gentlemen, the source of the power that controls the minds of the masses. The cornerstone of all that binds us. Brothers, together we have within our midst, the source of majestical power…”
The Whyte Knight reached into the case…
philvisreturns
10:59 on 10 September, 2014
‘If it’s a Yes, a lot of people are going to be bitterly disappointed when the reality of life in Scotland doesn’t live up to the sunny predictions of Mr Salmond.’
###
That’s where the real danger lies.
There would be a large part of the lumpen element of the nationalists looking for a scapegoat.
Happy Birthday Wee Oscar
Thoughts and prayers with your family
God bless
‘The group’ are around 70 members, yes. However ‘the section’ 111 is around 300 in total.
From the GB Forum:
“To confirm –
SECTION V ABERDEEN NOW WON’T BE HAPPENING
It’s disappointing but we wouldn’t have been able to get a block of 300 season books sorted in time. What it does mean is that for Motherwell the week later, the group will 100% be back in block 111 with season books. This gives us 2 weeks from now to get everyone signed up, to position everyone in the section which we have full control over, and start off again at Motherwell with a bang rather than half heartedly…”
http://greenbrigade.proboards.com/thread/61640/saturday-leafleting-section
philvisreturns
10:05 on
10 September, 2014
macjay1 – I’m far too terrified of spiders to ever go to Australia. I hear the local arachnid life is so big they smoke cigars. (thumbsup)
—————————————————————————————————————
Dangerous spiders in Sydney are seen as often as deer in Glasgow.
Veiled reference to big Joe ,the “J” educated treasurer ?
The panic button has been pressed.
The 3 amigos from WM despatched to tell the natives of North Britain that we really do want you to stay. Sorry for not arriving sooner. We thought Alistair and Ruth could persuade the “sweaties”. It’ll now seem a really poor show if YES wins and we’re caught out doing SFA about it.
Rjght, Gideon, call that Mark Carney and tell him to put out something weighty re a shared currency. Get a few captains of industry and finance to wake up.
Do I have to share a plane with Milliband?
What is this devo max carry on?
Don’t worry Mr Cameron, ernie lynch on CQN will sort you out with the best cut’n paste explanation this side of the Mississippi. All he wants is a peerage and your promise to keep catholic schools.
ernie lynch
10:57 on
10 September, 2014
Once in Alex Salmond’s lifetime is not the same as once in my lifetime. It’s all relative.
weeminger
10:45 on 10 September, 2014
NatKnow
10:26 on
10 September, 2014
I appreciate that it was more than slightly optimistic for what might happen in the aftermath but I think the motivation we’ve seen across both sides has been fantastic. I’d far rather than than the apathy of 60-65% turn outs for the last to General Elections.
Whichever side wins, the other side do need to keep involved and get reasons why promises made aren’t met, if that’s the case.
—————————————————————————
Was it as much as 60%? Anyways – I agree that, if nothing else, the indyref debate has been a highly energetic. However, in my view more heat than light in many places. Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for more involved politics but, since there was little in evidence prior to this referendum, then I’d expect the same afterwards. People are energised (on the Yes side mostly IMHO) because they feel they can actually change something – i.e. there is a sense of agency that is not apparent in day-to-day politics of “When will my Community Centre be re-clad?”. Politics is mostly systematic and moribund. Even in Scotland. All that said, if there is a Yes win then there will be some folow-on forward momentum. I wouldn’t expect any euphoria to last – reality will kick in on that first Monday morning back to work…
weeminger
11:17 on 10 September, 2014
ernie lynch
10:57 on
10 September, 2014
‘Once in Alex Salmond’s lifetime is not the same as once in my lifetime. It’s all relative.’
####
Sounds like Salmond’s life might be in danger from disappointed nats if that’s how they feel.
ernie lynch
11:20 on
10 September, 2014
Hardly, Ernie although I’ll ask a nat when I see one. Go back to the ‘once in a generation’ line. It’s more accurate.
blantyretim – Thank you. Yes, and it’s funny how quickly you can’t imagine life without them!
Even though I’ve been peed on, pooped on, screamed at, and subjected to sleep deprivation that would be illegal under the Geneva Convention, the wee man makes it all seem worth it with a cheeky smile. (thumbsup)
igc – Was it ra deeds? (thumbsup)
ernie lynch – there’s been a lot of unpleasantness in this campaign, almost exclusively from the Yes side, who have vacillated between congratulating themselves on their moral purity and nasty personal attacks on people in the No camp.
I’d hope that will dissipate after the referendum but some is bound to linger. (thumbsup)
In the event of a No vote. Westminister could dissolve the Scottish Parliament (and hte Welsh Assembly for that matter) completely. They have the power. It would never happen, nevertheless the option is there.
Now that would be fear mongering had the Yes campaign (and not just me) raised it.
philvisreturns
11:36 on 10 September, 2014
Even though I’ve been peed on, pooped on, screamed at, and subjected to sleep deprivation that would be illegal under the Geneva Convention, the wee man makes it all seem worth it with a cheeky smile. (thumbsup)
—————————————————————————–
I’m hoping you’ve had a wean after reading that remark? :-)
If so – many congratulations my Hoopy friend!
weeminger
11:31 on 10 September, 2014
ernie lynch
11:20 on
10 September, 2014
‘Hardly, Ernie although I’ll ask a nat when I see one. Go back to the ‘once in a generation’ line. It’s more accurate.’
####
Salmond, as you know, started with the once in a generation line, but he then upped the ante by saying it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.
I suspect, as I think you do too, that he’ll shortly be reverting to the once in a generation line.
He’ll then move swiftly to inform us that when he said that, he was in fact referring to the life cycle of the Highland midge and we’ll just have another referendum next month, thank you very much, and every month thereafter for all eternity.
The man is a glib and shameless liar ‘in terms of the debate’.
Jeez Ernie you certainly are a modern day Brahn Seer all this knowledge stored in one mind, it’sno fair. Hail Hail Hebcelt
“Salmond, as you know, started with the once in a generation line, but he then upped the ante by saying it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
No no Ernie. Once in a generation and opertunity of a lifetime came in the same speech.
Nothing was ‘upped’
Opportunity even.
@colinbrookmyre
I see Ally McCoist supports Better Together. From the way they’ve blown a 15-point lead, you’d think he was actually managing them.
philvisreturns
ernie lynch – there’s been a lot of unpleasantness in this campaign, almost exclusively from the Yes side, who have vacillated between congratulating themselves on their moral purity and nasty personal attacks on people in the No camp.
I’d hope that will dissipate after the referendum but some is bound to linger. (thumbsup———-____
You are talking posh, pure rubbish. You haven’t witnessed anything first hand yet you spout this drivel, gies peace ya waloper.
On several occasions recently Yes supporters have been physically attacked in the street, videos are available on YouTube. Nicola Sturgen and other leading members of the Yes campaign have been hit with eggs with either speaking at meetings in the street or in halls. Not one media outlet has chose to highlight these incidents, wonder why hmmmmm.
So please stop lecturing us on the villains of this campaign when you in reality are just making things up, or to put it another way, lying.
ernie lynch
Now trying to equate Salmond with Dave King.
Desperate post from a desperate man.
Geordie Munro
11:46 on 10 September, 2014
‘No no Ernie. Once in a generation and opertunity of a lifetime came in the same speech.’
#
So as well as being a glib and shameless liar ‘in terms of the debate,’ he’s also incoherent.
Jeez, and I thought you were on his side.
eddieinkirkmichael
11:51 on
10 September, 2014
You could have made your point without the insults. Always be better than the other man. ;)
#voteYes
.
Test
PS I do understand you we’re referring to the so called cybernats, try reading what the No supporters have written on this site about leaders of the yes side if you want to see how dirty personnel attacks are from the no side.
ger57
11:53 on 10 September, 2014
They have an equal propensity to say whatever suits their purpose at the time without regard to fact or veracity.
In terms of the debate.
KEVINBHOY
Ooooo-er,you’ll have us all battering down her door!
Congratulations to your daughter,of course. A marvellous achievement.
My 22yo nephew-Chem Eng-might just agree to go along to look after his oul’ Papa now!
Here’s my view from down here – St Bride’s Church steeple…
But in all half-seriousness, the whole run up to the referendum has been dismaying.
The Yes camp have their head in the clouds. The No camp are muppets, really muppety muppets. Westminster has nothing but contempt for Scotland and the desires of the Scottish people…same as anywhere outside of the M25 sadly.
The choices are:
Vote No and be crushed under the weight of South East England’s Libertarian fetish; or
Vote Yes and be crushed under the weight of one man’s ego (I know you say it’s not all about Alex, but it is a bit…a big bit).
Don’t worry too much about it, just choose something then live your life the best you can. Resistance is futile.
Disclaimer: the posts of Davidopoulos may not represent the opinions of Davidopoulos.
“So as well as being a glib and shameless liar ‘in terms of the debate,’ he’s also incoherent.”
Whit??
Ernie that is some leap. Getting desperate.
Macjay1 – I saw the documentary “Crocodile Dundee” and it proved Australia is full of spiders, woozawongs, and leathery men comparing knives. (thumbsup)
natknow – Thank you :) (thumbsup)
eddieinkirkmichael – You are talking posh, pure rubbish. You haven’t witnessed anything first hand yet you spout this drivel, gies peace ya waloper.
you in reality are just making things up, or to put it another way, lying.
See what I mean? (thumbsup)
Happy Birthday Wee Oscar and a quick nod to Big Jock who gave us our finest hour.
Thinking about you both.
Davidopoulos,
Crushed either way?
Are you Stewart Regan?;)