NOVEMBER 2012
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'Game on' in Scottish Referendum as Salmond and Cameron sign Edinburgh Agreement
STUDIES
Cultural and social ■fc. °na,her and connect
EDINBURGH - 'Game on' is a term more usually associated with bingo than with politics, but it is now common currency as far as the Scottish independence referendum is concerned.
In the last couple of weeks, it featured in countless newspaper headlines here and someone even created the twitter hashtag #gameon for those who favour an instant reaction.
I doubt if anyone using 'game on' as headline or hashtag considered the bingo precedent but it is strangely apt.
There is going to be a lot of talk about gambling in the next two years and many a number will be called before one side or the other declares itself a
The game began in earnest on October 15 when Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond and Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron met at St. Andrews House to sign what soon became known as the 'Edinburgh Agreement'.
Considering the cacophony that the independence issue has produced recently, the signing was a rather solemn and subdued affair.
The first bingo ball was out of the bag almost before the signatures were dry. It had 'who won on the referendum details?' written on it.
Cameron was able to say that he had insisted on a straight yes or no question and eliminated the possibility of a so-called 'devo max' option.
Salmond could say that the Scottish Government now had the power to set the timing of the referendum (towards the end of 2014), the wording of the question (albeit with the involvement of the electoral commission) and the expansion of the franchise to include 16 and 17-year-olds.
The Scottish First Mnister's subsequent hailing of a 'made in Scotland' referendum and the revelation that his advisers told him not to look 'triumphalist' probably tells its own story.
Certainly the opinion previously offered by Mchel Forsyth, former Tory Secretary of State for Scotland, that the process wasn't so much a negotiation as a 'walkover' for Salmond would have made his advisers guidance even more difficult to follow.
The second bingo ball had 'polls' written on it and this is one number Salmond doesn't yet have. In fact, post-Edinburgh agreement the 'no' camp's lead appears to have stretched a bit.
There is comfort to be had from Salmond's point of view in the complicating factors e.g. polls that showthat the majority of Scots want the Scottish Government to take 'all decisions', even though (paradoxically) independence is majority-opposed and the way in which those who favoured change through'devo max' will vote now that that option is no longer available.
The third ball had 'NATO and nuclear weapons' on it. A lively debate at the annual Scottish National Party confer-
By HARRY McGRATH
ence voted narrowly for an independent Scotland to be a member of NATO while insisting on the removal of nuclear weapons from its territory.
As in so many issues in Scotland there is a Canadian precedent for this - one nobody in the debate seemed to recognize - and independent Scotland's relationship with nuclear weapons seems destined to be as ambiguous as Canada's already is.
The fourth ball had 'Europe' on it and that one jumped out of the pot sideways this week and hit Scotland's first minister square in the face.
He was accused of saying in a television interview that the Scottish Government had taken legal advice on an independent Scotland's status in the European Union when it had not. This is a difficult one for Salmond as it is being sold by his opponents as a question of trustworthiness.
He will take some comfort though from a recent pronouncement by Graham Avery, an Honorary Director-General of the European Commission, who says that
Scottish citizens already have rights as European Community citizens and could not be asked to leave and apply for re-admission.
A more general source of encouragement for the 'Yes Scotland' is the almost total inactivity of the 'no' side which appears to be resting on its poll laurels.
There has been almost no discussion of what will happen if Scotland votes 'no' beyond the continuation of a 'Union benefit' which is never spelled out.
There are indicators though. This week the Westminster defence secretary came to Scotland and, in a supposed age of austerity, announced £350 million would be made available to design Trident replacement nuclear submarines, a move the Scottish Government likened to dumping weapons of mass destruction in Scotland.
There is also a growing number of Westminster politicians speaking out in favour of Britain's complete withdrawal from the European Union which would leave Scotland cut off from Europe in a way that few Scots seem to favour.
So, it's all to play for, to borrow another cliche, and there will be a lot more issues called out over the next two years.
In the end, the only thing that is certain is that not everything is going to be certain. No matter how closely the various policy areas are examined, it could all come down to the degree to which Scots are prepared to take some risks.
Salmond vows to outlaw
nuclear weapons in an independent Scotland
EDINBURGH - The Trident nuclear weapons system is costing Scottish taxpayers £ 163 million a year according to First Minister Alex Salmond.
The UK Government has set out plans to replace the Clyde-based weapons system, despite the prospect of Scots voting for independence in 2014 and Trident being forced to leave Scottish territory.
He accused London of treating Scotland as a "nuclear dump" and said, "we're not standing for it any more."
"Scottish taxpayers in Scotland currently pay £163 million a year towards the running of the Trident," Salmond said during First Ministers Questions.
"That money could be spent on 3,880 nurses, 4,527 teachers or a host of new schools and hospitals in our community."
He added that an extra £84 million a year is proposed by the replacement over the next 15 years.
UK Defence secretary Philip Hampton visited the Faslane nuclear base on November 1, where he announced £350 million of funding towards the Trident replacement and said there are no plans to move the submarine based system because he doesn't believe there will be a "yes" vote.
Salmond said opposition to nuclear weapons had been endorsed by the Scot-
HMS Victorious pictured at the Clyde naval base carries the Trident ballistic missile.
tish parliament as well as churches, the STUC and civil society. The SNP plans to outlaw nuclear weapons as part of a written constitution of an independent Scotland.
The SNP recently voted to change policy and back membership of the nuclear-armed international defence alliance NATO, despite opposing the weapons.
Tory leader Ruth Davidson questioned how Scotland couldjoinNATO, while "kicking the submarine fleet out of Faslane. Can he tell us what facts he has sought or received to support this assertion?" she said.
But Salmond said 25 of the 28 countries who are currently NATO members are not nuclear powers.
DR. LEITH Davis (SFU), Jack Whyte, and Tricia Barker (SFU) at the SFU Centre for Scottish Studies.
Jack Whyte impresses the crowd at the SFU Scottish Studies evening
By TRICIA BARKER
VANCOUVER - Academics, historical fiction fans and lovers of Scottish history came together to enjoy one of the Simon Fraser University Centre for Scottish Studies evenings with author Jack Whyte.
It was an impressive display of Jack's research and understanding of Scotland's rich history around the time of Robert the Bruce.
This is the topic of his recently released book, Renegade, and the audience was given a taste of what they would learn as they read the story Jack is able to tell so well.
The next SFU Centre for Scottish Studies event is a dramatic production,^4««a Hepburn, Mary Queen of Scots: The Last Letter.
This one-woman play starts with Mary Stuart, sitting, writing a letter to the brother of her first husband, Henry III of France. (The material quoted is actually from the original letter written at that time, six hours before her execution.)
During the course of writing the letter, Mary breaks off to recall her life and the events which have shaped her destiny and her ultimate tragic end.
While listening to her recounting the exciting and disastrous situations that she had to face during her lifetime, the audience is taken through a roller-coaster ride of emotions.
Her major life events include her idyllic early years in France, the excitement of her early marriage to Francis the Dauphin, his ill-fated and catastrophic death and her move to Scotland.
The audience follows her struggle with the power-hungry Scottish nobles and the preacher John Knox, her marriage to the notorious Lord Darnley, his murder, and her disastrous marriage to Bothwell, right through to her imprisonment by her own cousin, Elizabeth I.
Using only documented telling of events and conversations noted at that time, actress Anna Hepburn shows the brutality of the situations in which Mary found herself.
The play takes place at 7:30 PM on November 22 at SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings. This event is open to the public". A donation of $10-12 is suggested and proceeds will go entirely to the actress.
For more information, visit www.scottish.sfu.ca. To reserve a seat, e-mail: tbarker@sfu.ca.
Tory win 'influences Scottish vote'
EDINBURGH - More than half of Scots would be likely to vote for independence if they believed the Tories would be returned to power in Westminster at the next general election, a new poll has found.
The Panelbase poll for The Sunday Times and Real Radio Scotland found 37 percent of Scots agreed the country should be independent, with 45 percent opposed.
When it asked voters what they would do if they felt the 2015 UK general election would result in either a majority Conservative government at Westminster or another Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition, 52 percent said this would make them likely to vote in favour of Scotland leaving the UK.
Under the same circumstances, 40 percent of those questioned said they would be unlikely to vote for independence, while eight percent said they did not know how they would cast their ballot.
A total of 972 voters north of the border were questioned for the survey, which comes less than a week after Prime Minister David Cameron signed a deal on the independence referendum with Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond.
Salmond launched a fierce attack on Westminster as he addressed the Scottish National Party's annual conference in Perth.
He branded the UK Government an "incompetent bunch of Lord Snooty s" as he declared "Now is the time for Scotland to choose, to seize a different future."
Scots are due to vote on independence in the autumn of 2014, just months before the 2015 general election.