15-09-14, 08:56 PM
If Mr. Welsh really wants to see an improvement in England too, couldn't a movement from the people of a UK do it better than a small population such as Scotland has? What he effectively seems to be saying is that it's time for a new party that genuinely represents the needs/desires of the people. I don't see how going independent will achieve this. That just looks more like "up yours England, we'll be ok Ja(o)ck", and any wonder if that attitude causes some bad feeling?
People who really want to see change for the better stick together don't they? United we stand and all that. And I don't mean from the point of view of the politicians and their cronies, but from the real people who slog away to earn for their families, and want to see a decent future for their children.
So I think Mr. Welsh's views are actually a cop out, as is Scottish independence. Because who in Scotland has laid out a vision for a truly brave new future, one that will inspire other nations? SNP? Scottish Labour? I don't think so, they're all too enmeshed in the current ways of doing politics to change.
Where I do believe he has a point, is that it is for the younger generations to initiate this "new politics". Because us older folks are too set in our ways; because we don't have the time or the energy to do so; because we don't have the vision required. And the problem for the younger generations is going to be that their education in the universities is coming from the old systems - so unless someone with real vision and fresh inspiration arises from there, things still won't change.
He mocks Tony Blair, but this is with 20:20 hindsight. When the term "New Labour" was coined, didn't we all think that this new approach was just what we'd get? And we all know where it finished up. Who's to say an independent Scottish government/political system will be able to resist any better the very same pressures, mostly external, that dragged Labour back to it's current toothless same-as-the-rest position?
Well Andy, you know your political history better than I do. Can you think of anyone we can take as an example of a true political visionary; someone who had the vision and also the courage and the sheer force of will to make change on the scale that's needed? Someone who set out the goal, the path, and took his nation there? Has there ever been such a politician in the world? Because yes, frankly, I'm cynical. Because you won't be just fighting back against the current UK system, but the world system. How will Scottish independence change that? The world will only say to Scotland, "move aside mere drop of water, let the ocean pass".
People who really want to see change for the better stick together don't they? United we stand and all that. And I don't mean from the point of view of the politicians and their cronies, but from the real people who slog away to earn for their families, and want to see a decent future for their children.
So I think Mr. Welsh's views are actually a cop out, as is Scottish independence. Because who in Scotland has laid out a vision for a truly brave new future, one that will inspire other nations? SNP? Scottish Labour? I don't think so, they're all too enmeshed in the current ways of doing politics to change.
Where I do believe he has a point, is that it is for the younger generations to initiate this "new politics". Because us older folks are too set in our ways; because we don't have the time or the energy to do so; because we don't have the vision required. And the problem for the younger generations is going to be that their education in the universities is coming from the old systems - so unless someone with real vision and fresh inspiration arises from there, things still won't change.
He mocks Tony Blair, but this is with 20:20 hindsight. When the term "New Labour" was coined, didn't we all think that this new approach was just what we'd get? And we all know where it finished up. Who's to say an independent Scottish government/political system will be able to resist any better the very same pressures, mostly external, that dragged Labour back to it's current toothless same-as-the-rest position?
Well Andy, you know your political history better than I do. Can you think of anyone we can take as an example of a true political visionary; someone who had the vision and also the courage and the sheer force of will to make change on the scale that's needed? Someone who set out the goal, the path, and took his nation there? Has there ever been such a politician in the world? Because yes, frankly, I'm cynical. Because you won't be just fighting back against the current UK system, but the world system. How will Scottish independence change that? The world will only say to Scotland, "move aside mere drop of water, let the ocean pass".