What a mess they've got us into

A good friend of mine last night concluded he was going to vote No.  I was sad as I have failed to help him catch the vision of what could be.  At times it felt like I was listening to an old scratched gramophone record, the same old excuses and scare stories were trotted out for a No.  Almost like a Lamont Davidson duet.  

The refrain, of "too many unanswered questions" became somewhat tiring.  It became a bit like Nick Robinson who gets an answer from the First Minster but decided it doesn't work as an answer for him so says big Ek never answered him. Ludicrous, but there you go.

What my good friend doesn’t seem to appreciate is if we vote Yes we will have some sort of certainty.  If we vote No, the gloves are off.  All this stuff about the Vow is utterly meaningless.   Plaid Cymru, Labour and Conservative MPs are now queuing up to express a view that there is a good chance they won’t be supporting the Vow.  And you can understand their position, not least in Wales, if they want to get re-elected by constituents who must think the three party leaders are off their heads. 

Just picture it.  A constituent asks, “so you are giving the Scots more power?”.  Yes.  “And allow them to keep an enhanced Barnett formula?”  Yes.  “So what you doing for me?”  Now I may be wrong but I really don’t think English and Welsh MPs are going to run with this Vow without pretty massive concessions.

You know, until the three leaders and the shadow of Brown turned up, the vote was very simple.  I actually think it may well have been No.  But they turned up and broke the Edinburgh Agreement.  They introduced things that were specifically agreed would not be on the table.  They have created this new mess that will unfold if it’s a No vote.

The polls opening 22 hours from now.  And with all this spin, gloom and undeliverable promises from the Westminster leaders I’m not so sure the Scottish people will be taken in.  All the intervention of the Westminster four has done is make it worse for Scotland in the longer term.  England will make sure it gets at least its fair share of the cake, if not more. And you can understand why.  Our meagre 59 MPs will be out voted at every turn at Westminster from here on in by MPs more interested in their own survival than the interests of Scotland.

So, tomorrow, as my friend goes to the ballot box, he will have to think of two futures.  Will he chose the one that will be good for him and the generations to come, both here and across the border? Will the tide have turned for him?  I hope so.

The No campaign slogan is Better Together.  Really?  Better together is what we have now.  Is that really the best aspiration the people of Scotland have today?  I hope not.