Alex Salmond former aide attacks 'tired, tedious' independence campaign

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/sep/17/alex-salmond-aide-alex-bell-scottish

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One of Alex Salmond's former closest advisers has attacked the Scottish independence campaign for relying too heavily on "tedious" ideas and "tired policies".

Alex Bell, who quit as head of Alex Salmond's policy unit in July after two years working on his independence strategy, said the first minister was failing to present a radical, daring vision for Scotland and so was facing defeat in next year's referendum.

Writing for the Guardian, as the independence movement prepares to mark a year to go before the referendum, on 18 September 2014, Bell said: "The campaigns to date have been a tedious parade of union jacks versus saltires, of pop identity about caring Scots versus heartless Tories."

Bell warned that Salmond's white paper on independence, touted as his prospectus for independence and due to be published in November, fell into the trap of singing "the old songs" for short-term tactical reasons rather than offering voters bold, radical reforms.

That approach included focusing heavily on nationalist arguments about Scottish identity and culture rather than being brave enough to see Scotland's problems as part of a global crisis that also affected England and the rest of the UK.

"At its best, the Scottish nationalist movement knows this and offers a critique of what democracy and the UK state can achieve," Bell said. "At its worst, it succumbs to the temptation to focus on old songs and tired policies. In this, Salmond is wrong."

Bell's criticisms are shared by senior figures on the left of the SNP and within the Yes Scotland independence campaign, who believe Salmond is being too timid by offering a more moderate version of independence to win over sceptical and unpersuaded middle-ground voters.

Salmond rejected that, saying Scotland was already proving itself to be radical with its innovative programmes on green energy, free education and healthcare. He said independence was a natural continuation of devolution.

"Scotland can more than afford to be a successful independent country. We have enormous advantages in terms of our human and natural resources, but we need the political and economic tools to help create a wealthier and fairer society," the first minister said.

"This referendum is not about any one politician or party – it is about completing Scotland's 'home rule' journey, which has been under way for more than a century."

The latest poll for the Guardian by ICM has 32% of British voters backing Scottish independence, roughly the same level of support found in Scotland, with 52% of British voters in favour of keeping the UK intact.

Significantly, it finds the highest level of support for independence amongst Labour voters across Britain, with 35% believing that Scotland should split from the UK, and 52% against.

That rate is more than double the level of support for independence among Scottish Labour voters found by other polls and 10 percentage points higher than the 25% of pro-independence Labour supporters found in a Scotland-only poll by ICM published at the weekend.

That finding will alarm Ed Miliband, the party's UK leader, and Scottish Labour leaders as they struggle against internal opposition to agree a new blueprint for greater Scottish devolution that could include splitting up parts of the welfare state and giving the Holyrood parliament greater tax powers.

Analysts believe this higher rate reflects increasing unhappiness in England about the perception that Scotland gets unfair levels of subsidy – a view rejected by Scottish ministers and Treasury officials; jealousy of Scotland's free prescriptions and universities; and irritation with the continuing right of Scottish MPs to vote on England-only measures at Westminster.

Labour is pressing ahead with plans to offer Scottish voters greater powers for Holyrood if they reject independence next September, and could agree to sign a joint declaration with the Tories and Liberal Democrats pledging to introduce further reforms.

Alan Trench, an academic specialising in devolution and adviser to expert government commissions, said: "It's clear that Labour voters generally have concerns about how things are at the moment. In England, they're struggling with a sense of unfairness about how the system works. It's Labour's job to square the circle."

Meanwhile, the dispute over whether an independent Scotland would remain able to sustain high levels of public spending deepened after a senior ex-Treasury economist warned that an independent Scotland would face spending cuts of more than 5% and much higher borrowing costs if it followed Salmond's proposals for a sterling currency union with the rest of the UK.

Dr Angus Armstrong, director of macroeconomic research at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, said many lenders and investors would be very nervous about a newly independent country having significant debts and also being reliant on volatile oil receipts.

Scotland could instead hand over all its North Sea oil tax income to the UK in exchange for writing off its share of the UK national debt, Armstrong said, or it could instead set up its own currency.

"The greater the amount of public debt an independent Scotland assumes, the greater the importance of retaining some policy flexibility and the stronger the case for introducing a new Scottish currency," he said.

The Scottish government rejected his arguments, saying their economic advisers, including two Nobel prize economists, said that a sterling union was the best option for Scotland. Even with a full population share of UK debt, Scotland would still have less debt compared to GDP.

"An independent Scotland will be in a stronger financial position than we are at present," a spokeswoman said.

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