Scottish secretary warns against splitting up UK 'family of nations'

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/sep/18/scottish-secretary-uk-family-nations

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Michael Moore, the Scottish secretary, has raised the spectre of an uncomfortable, unjustified divorce between Scotland and the rest of the UK as campaigners mark a year to the independence referendum.

In a speech to the Liberal Democrat annual conference in Glasgow, Moore said he wanted to champion a positive case for "keeping the family together" in next September's vote, insisting that the UK was a highly successful and dynamic "family of nations".

Moore peppered his speech with references to the UK's collective achievements, including the NHS, pioneering state pensions, defeating fascism in the second world war, and the UK's influential role on the world stage.

"These are good things, great things, in which men and women from across our family of nations have worked together and scaled the highest heights," he said.

"In this history and these achievements our United Kingdom has been forged. We are Scottish and English, Welsh and Northern Irish. We are proud, we are diverse, but we are British – and we are sticking together."

His speech came as Alex Salmond, the first minister and Scottish National party leader, prepared to lead a major debate on the referendum at Scotland's devolved parliament (now controlled by the majority SNP) on Wednesday afternoon, marking that "year to go".

A series of opinion polls released on Wednesday morning have made sobering reading for the first minister and the independence campaign, Yes Scotland.

A Progressive Scottish Opinion survey for the Daily Mail found support for independence down to 27%, with support for the UK at 59%. A YouGov poll in the Times reported a slightly narrower gap, with a no vote at 52% and yes support at 32%.

A poll for the Herald by TNS BMRB found that 45% of voters in Scotland believe the Scottish economy would do worse after independence, with 23% believing it would improve.

Alistair Darling, the Labour former chancellor and chairman of the pro-UK Better Together campaign, said these polls showed the independence case was floundering. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Darling said: "When you get borders, you get barriers to trade. Scottish businesses and jobs would suffer if we put a barrier between ourselves and what the rest of our market is."

Salmond argues that independence is the natural, bold choice for Scotland, allowing Holyrood to grow from a devolved assembly into a fully fledged state parliament, one that reflects the country's more socially liberal views than those of the rest of the UK.

"Today marks one year to the biggest opportunity Scotland has ever had. Referendums like this are a once-in-a-generation event, which means the vote on 18 September next year will be the opportunity of a lifetime for many people in Scotland, as we get the chance to choose our country's future," Salmond said before the debate.

The first minister sought to counter the widespread view that independence was his project, with the SNP's success heavily reliant on his leadership.

"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," Salmond said.

Moore dismissed the attempt to claim a direct link between independence and home rule, a version of devolution. The Scottish secretary insisted that home rule had been a Liberal party policy for decades, referring obliquely to its introduction under Gladstone in the late 19th century, and said it was a concept based on Scotland remaining in the UK.

He said the SNP had refused to get involved in any of the political processes which led to devolution, or which enhanced Holyrood's powers, including the constitutional convention of the 1990s with Labour, the trade unions and civic society, or the Calman commission, which led to Scotland winning control over income tax from 2016.

"So when they seek to spread doubt that more powers will come, the irony is this: Scotland's journey towards home rule has not happened because of the SNP. It has happened despite the SNP," he said.

The Scottish secretary, the MP for the Borders constituency of Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, opened his speech with a reference to the battle of Flodden in 1513, the largest battle between Scottish and English forces, which ended in defeat and death for the Scottish king James IV. Moore insisted he regarded himself as a proud Borderer, a Scot, but someone who is equally British.

He alleged that the Scottish National party and other nationalists wanted to split those interlinking, shared identities in two by forcing Scotland's voters to choose between being Scottish and British.

"Should we stay with this UK family of nations? A family in which we have grown together and achieved so much. Or should we take the irreversible step of leaving that family and going it alone? Should we go forward together or divert into the unknown? It's a clear choice," he said.

"Nationalists will argue that only by being an independent state can we achieve our potential as a nation; that a truly Scottish future cannot be a British one. But that is just not true. People living here in Scotland are wholly comfortable being both Scottish and British [and] proud to live in and to contribute to the wellbeing of the family of nations that is the United Kingdom.

"As liberals and democrats, this is common sense. So let's be clear. Our choice next year is not the false choice of picking an identity."

Remaining in the UK was "a positive outlook – this instinct to expand our identity, take down barriers and build on our success is entirely at odds with the idea of breaking up Britain", he said.

"Over three centuries of partnership together we have achieved so much. Our economy is the sixth largest in the world. Providing opportunity to generations of children and the resilience to withstand a financial crisis where the banks went bust."

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