Without doubt the event will be better supported than a No "rally" staged outside the Senedd yesterday. This was organised and addressed by Dan Snow, the BBC's youthful military historian and latest all-purpose presenter. Snow is married to the second daughter of the Duke of Westminster, one of the largest landowners in Scotland. Around seven people showed up, and most of those were apparently bussed in Labour staffers, keen as young Daniel is to support his father-in-law's hereditary privileges and property interests.
A rather more interesting debate on Scottish independence took place last night on Radio 4, where James Naughtie hosted a meeting of Scottish voters at the Edinburgh Festival drawn from various civic groups. Unlike a lot of the BBC's coverage, this was a much more balanced affair; if anything the Yes camp appeared to have the edge.
The programme, available for a few more days here, is worth listening to. None of those taking part was a politician or political insider, and two things came across very clearly.
The first was the strength and distinctiveness of Scottish identity. Scotland really is a different country - something that is all too easy to forget for the rest of us who rely on Dan Snow and the rest of the London-centric media for our view of the world.
The second was the quality of the debate and the extent to which ordinary people have become engaged in it. Speaker after speaker, from the Yes, No and undecided camps, said how the referendum campaign had caught people's imagination and brought political discussion to life.
If the 'Better Together' campaign had had its way, this debate would not be taking place, of course, and whatever happens on 18 September, this flowering will be one of Alex Salmond's greatest legacies.
As we look forward to September, the rally in Cardiff and the vote itself, here is a short film featuring some of the best and brightest in Welsh life sending their messages of hope and support to Scotland.
Ewch amdani Alba!
11 comments:
Wow! Thanks guys, that was really moving.
Big thank you to all our Welsh brothers and sisters. The whole place is buzzing and we will see an end to a corrupt Westminster on the 18th Sept.
YES Scotland .
Bang on the nail. I sent the link to Wings where it has been well received.
Cheers,
Robert
We need 8 people to turn up to beat Dan Snow's event. Are you going?
Well I watched the debate last week between Darling and Salmond and Darling definitely had the edge.
I would go as far as to say that Salmond was made a fool out of especially when he tried to make issues out of driving on different sides of the road and protection from space invaders !!
He has no answer to the currency issue and this is what will sink him.
I think in about 6 weeks from now Scotland will have voted to stay as part of the UK and Salmond will have resigned as first minister.
Anon@16.31 I very much hope so.
If the Scots vote for independence,I hope I won't have
to endure their football results any more.
If Scotland votes NO, as seems so very likely, we will just have to force them out of the Union (we and the 53 million folk living in England that also want rid of them).
Now, for those few Welsh folk that also want out of the Union, please firstly identify an area of land you want to live in and then all move to it. Separation can follow thereafter.
No-one has ever had a problem leaving the Union and it is wrong to pretend such. The only problem has been persuading enough people in a particular area to vote for such.
What evidence is there that Scottish politicians in Edinburgh would be any better than those in Westminster?
The logic of creating a whole new set of problems for Scotland to face (we have enough already) is what precisely? - some outdated concept of the independent state?
I suspect that the sentimental are over-represented among those taken in by Salmond's bluster and
permanent air of grievance: thankfully, it seems that the fine Scottish education system is likely to ensure that they are a minority.
It is Unionism - not independence - that is an outdated concept Anon 22:55. The dying embers of British Imperialism - the source of so much grief in the world today, including Iraq, an artificial entity created by Britain. As regards the comments by Anon 21:41 where does one start? We already have an 'area of land to live in'. It's called Wales, or as many of us prefer - Cymru. I don't think it's racists to say that many English poeple can't handle all this, can they? That goes for Uncle Toms like Gareth Edwards and Sam Warburton as well.
Go for it Scotland!
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