I am a Scottish man, brought up in a very culturally Scottish house with Scottish politics on the forefront of my mind. But i was brought up on the English side of the border, this probably influenced me by thinking that keeping in the union with England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or the north of Ireland, but that's a future topic) was the more sensible, realistic path for the future of our nation, but my mind has started to question the union and its affect on Scotland and its people. Its lead me to think, Is independence better for Scotland?
Economic
As of the time I'm writing this piece ( early February 2025) there is a labour government in Westminster, and the chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced a plan for so called 'growth' in the United Kingdom. If by United Kingdom she meant England then she would be correct, A third runway at Heathrow, A new 'silicon valley' near Cambridge and Oxford, the furthest north the investment goes is Manchester!
These are already the richest areas of our country, this isn't growth, its greed. Scotland has been left behind, neglected you need no other example than Grangemouth to see how Westminster neglect leads to hurt and pain in Scotland. Its starting to become clear to us that as the economy goes Scotland is but an afterthought.
Whenever i go back to Scotland and see the highlands and islands I see good, hardworking people moving out to look for employment down south to just survive, being replaced with economically inactive 'holiday homers'. If this trend continues we could see the death of our Economy and essentially just become England's playground. Its a race against the clock, we need to claim our economy before Westminster takes it.
Political
Over the last couple of years event, Brexit, Coronavirus, the genocide in Gaza has put a spotlight on the deep political divides between the united kingdom and Scotland's Politics. Scotland voted against Brexit, Scotland left the EU. Scotland supports a Palestinian state and often speaks out against the genocide ongoing in Gaza, Britain continues to arm the apartheid state in Israel.
Its becoming increasingly obvious that the rest of the United Kingdom is drifting further and further right wing with the Conservatives and Reform UK and Scotland is keeping to its centre left, left wing principles with the SNP and the Scottish Green party. How can we say that Scotland is represented by the Westminster government if almost every single decision Scotland is against is acted upon?
Westminster clearly only truly represents England and its policies, this presents us with an early 20th century colonial position in the union with so called 'democracy' when the system is stacked against us. Its time to have our own democracy, where Scotland and the Scottish people can be truly represented and our true beliefs are not quashed by Westminster.
The Royal Family
The Royal family claim an 'unbroken chain of heritage' from English and Scottish Monarchies. The Scottish Throne that it still claims today, and i say claim because i believe that the Scottish throne does not belong to "King" Charles. You see we'll have to go back to 1845 to the death of king Charles the 2nd and the last true king of Scotland. As England at the time was protestant and so the government ministers at the time looked for a Protestant that led to them finding somebody who was very, very distantly related to Charles the 2nd. This man was George the 1st a man who couldn't even speak English let alone have any Scottish heritage. This would eventually lead to the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 led by The bonnie prince Charlie who had a rightful claim to the throne but was defeated and exiled after the battle of Culloden. We've had a "German" king/queen ever since although in recent years there has been some Scottish heritage work its way into the royal family in the form of the queen mother and her family.
Heritage aside the royal family are a symbol of the upper classes, a throwback to the age of deference and the idea that they are in some way "better" than us. We should also be mindful of the atrocities that the British government in the name of the royal family carried out in Scotland, the highland clearances That depleted us of a lot of our population, and the atrocities committed to our brothers and sisters in Ireland in more recent years.
Why Independence is important
So why is independence Important? its simple if we are independent then it will allow us to truly represent ourselves and our beliefs and hopes and ambitions as a nation and as a people and chose our future and not be towed along by Westminster. If we make this decision then we will be free to be ourselves. Scottish men and women.
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