Thrive by Lesley Riddoch sampler
Why won’t Scots simmer down? Why batter on about independence when folk voted No a decade back? After all. Scotland’s not as populated as Yorkshire, nor as wealthy as London. But it’s also not as Conservative, as keen on Brexit, or as willing to flog public assets to Tory party pals. So does Nicola Sturgeon’s departure terminally damage the case for independence? The answer, with all respect to her legacy, is no. Scotland has bigger fish to fry. In this book, Lesley Riddoch makes an impassioned call to action, weaving academic evidence with story, international comparison and anecdote to explain why Scotland is ready to step forward as the world’s newest state.
Why won’t Scots simmer down?
Why batter on about independence when folk voted No a decade back?
After all. Scotland’s not as populated as Yorkshire, nor as wealthy as London. But it’s also not as Conservative, as keen on Brexit, or as willing to flog public assets to Tory party pals.
So does Nicola Sturgeon’s departure terminally damage the case for independence?
The answer, with all respect to her legacy, is no.
Scotland has bigger fish to fry.
In this book, Lesley Riddoch makes an impassioned call to action, weaving academic evidence with story, international comparison and anecdote to explain why Scotland is ready to step forward as the world’s newest state.
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The New Case for Scottish Independence<br />
23<br />
experiment in the costs and benefits of colonialism<br />
over a century, and there’s no doubt which group has<br />
fared better.<br />
Much more on this later.<br />
Currency – yes, there will be one. No nation became<br />
independent in order to have a new currency. None failed<br />
to jump ship for the want of one. And none facing difficulty,<br />
went back to the currency they had left. Why would Scotland<br />
be different?<br />
Deficits – I cite my guys, you cite yours. Does any<br />
argument completely satisfy? Deficits have accumulated on<br />
Westminster’s watch – they won’t disappear in an independent<br />
Scotland and they exist in almost every economy. Why the<br />
mere whiff of indebtedness seems to immobilise Scots is a good<br />
question worth asking. But for a discussion of THE ACTUAL<br />
NUMBERS read Professor Richard Murphy.<br />
Economic viability then?<br />
C’mon.<br />
With plentiful supplies of the world’s major assets – water<br />
and renewable energy – plus whisky, tourism, life sciences,<br />
music and friendly people, Scotland is unquestionably<br />
‘investable’. To squander these natural assets, Scots would<br />
have to be a different species to every small country around.<br />
And we’re not.<br />
In summary – currency, borders, deficits and economic<br />
viability are important. And fear of the unknown is a big<br />
factor. But let’s put the big rocks in first – and these are still<br />
not the big rocks.<br />
If Scots voted No in 2014 because we were frightened of<br />
losing the pound – a currency that has since tanked courtesy of<br />
hmg – we were a world first. If we voted No for fear of losing<br />
the developed world’s worst pension – ditto. If we worried about<br />
losing the high governance standards of Britain, we weren’t<br />
paying attention – and to be fair, hadn’t yet witnessed the effects<br />
of Brexit and crony Covid contracts which together sent the
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