UK govt more Scottish than Scots?

“The UK government position is very clear. We are seeking to facilitate a legal, fair and decisive referendum. Made in Scotland for the people of Scotland,” Britain’s Scottish Secretary Michael Moore is to tell The Scotsman Conference in Edinburgh.

“But it’s being met with complication, hesitation, and qualification. For whatever reasons, the Scottish Government is placing barriers on what should be a clear and straight road,” he will say.

This comes as London seems more willing to create barriers on the way to Scottish independence.

British Prime Minister David Cameron clearly said last Thursday when he met Scottish first minister Alex Salmond for independence talks that he is a “unionist” and wants the union of England and Scotland.

Cameron even hinted that independence could undermine Britain’s status in Europe, within NATO and even as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Moreover, two of Moore’s so-called barriers are indeed safeguards to ensure the Scots gain the most from the British side.

According to The Scotsman, Moore runs the barriers as follows: addition of the devolution-max option to the yes-no question on independence as a third choice on referendum ballot papers, holding the plebiscite two years later in 2014 rather than now and the question over the Scottish government’s legal right to stage a referendum.

This is while, securing the “devo-max” in case people vote down full independence will bring Scotland nearest to its desired autonomy from Britain without a need for military chiefs, diplomats and expensive embassies.

“It’s not up to us to define devolution max. We support independence, but I think the common understood definition of devolution max is that it is full devolution of all powers with the exception of defence and foreign affairs,” Stewart Maxwell, a former SNP minister and MSP for the West of Scotland said back in February.

Meanwhile, Scottish officials have made it clear that they want the referendum on the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 when Scotland vanquishes the English army in a decisive battle in the first war of Scotland’s independence.

The battle marks Scotland’s most famous victory over the English and is expected to rouse nationalist fervor in favor of independence.

What went along with the fact that Scotland houses Britain’s nuclear shield and the fountains of British oil in the North Sea fall within Scottish borders raises serious doubts about Moore’s claim that Edinburgh – rather than London — is placing barriers on the way to Scottish independence.

AMR/MB/HE

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