Wednesday 17 September 2014

Final Words...

And they're not mine. I respect him hugely but my support is not limitless and I haven't always voted for the party he leads. He might hold the highest office in Scotland and polarise feeling, to some he's bellicose & arrogant - to others he's inspirational & statesman-like. 

Which ever your belief - ignore the history, the press vilification and attempts by Better Together and the rest to tie every negative instance in Scotland real or imagined to his name and just read the words below.

On their own, not linked or attributed to a source and away from the often maddening debate - they push beyond any reasonable doubt that only one outcome is right for the day after tomorrow...

Scotland re-emerging to take its place as an independent country, working constructively with her neighbours for the mutual benefit of the many - instead of the few.

Vote Yes.


"In these final hours of this historic campaign I want to speak directly to every person in this country who is weighing up the arguments they have heard.

I have no doubt people in Scotland will look past the increasingly desperate and absurd scare stories being generated daily from Downing Street.

Those have no place in a sensible debate.

So in these last days of the greatest campaign Scotland has ever seen, I want to ask you to take a step back from the arguments of politicians and the blizzard of statistics.

For every expert on one side, there is an expert on the other.

For every scare tactic, there is a message of hope, opportunity and possibility.
The opportunity for our Parliament to gain real job creating powers, the ability to protect our treasured National Health Service and the building of a renewed relationship of respect and equality with our friends and neighbours in the rest of these Islands.

But for all that, the talking is nearly done.

The campaigns will have had their say.

What's left is just us - the people who live and work here.

The only people with a vote. The people who matter.

The people who for a few precious hours during polling day hold sovereignty, power, authority in their hands.

It's the greatest most empowering moment any of us will ever have.

Scotland’s future - our country in our hands.

What to do? Only each of us knows that.

For my part, I ask only this.

Make this decision with a clear head and a clear conscience.

Know that by voting ‘Yes’, what we take into our hands is a responsibility like no other - the responsibility to work together to make Scotland the nation it can be.

That will require maturity, wisdom, engagement and energy - and it will come not from the usual sources of parties and politicians but from you - the people who have transformed this moment from another political debate into a wonderful celebration of people power.

Does every Country make mistakes? Yes.

Are there challenges for Scotland to overcome? Undoubtedly.

But my question is this - who better to meet those challenges on behalf of our nation than us?

We must trust ourselves.

Trust each other."

2 comments:

  1. I have to say that I have a hard time understanding the antipathy to Alex Salmond. I suppose the problem is that I was working abroad for may years, and so missed a lot of the history, What is more, when I did come back I was used to being without TV and newspapers and continued in that mode.

    I am an early bird so I noted the early am interview being spun throughout the day – regardless of party by the way – to the point where it was unrecognisable. On several occasions I went back and listened to the original to see if I had misheard. I hadn't. They were spinning to the point that I was dizzy with it.

    I didn't see Alex as arrogant and I still don't. Confident – yes – but from my personal experience that comes with having a good grasp of a subject (and he has a good grasp of a lot of subjects). Look at his CV and you will understand why (unlike the Westminster crew – check their CVs too).

    When it comes to the opposition at Holyrood, quite honestly I am embarrassed at how bad they are. Moreover, they seem unable to understand that the way a proportionally representative body behaves is different from an adversarial chamber like Westminster. Consensual government is simply beyond their comprehension. I suspect that regardless of the vote (yes or no), the opposition lot in Holyrood will go back to their old habits. The problem is that a large part of the populace will now be watching them. They are not going to like what they see.

    Let us not forget the media, or maybe we should. I think their day is done.

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  2. Alex Salmond is a great politician, head and shoulders above the rest, but all politicians are salesmen at heart with an ulterior motive.

    That said, I don't think a politician has ever been the target of such a long and continued assassination of both character and motive.

    Which for me makes him my first choice for the moment. As you say, the other leaders in Scotland are so terrible - they had to have put them their deliberately for some reason or another.

    And as you say... The media... Memories can be short, but I don't think the Scottish media will recover from the referendum which ever way the vote goes.

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Thanks for comment as always and I apologise if you have to jump through any hoops to do so. Its just that, I'm still being spammed by organisations who are certain I can't get it up or when it is up its not big enough or that I don't have anyone to get it up for.

Who knew blogging could be so bad for ones self-confidence?