Indefinitely postponing a new independence referendum IS NOT a consequence-free option. It is, in fact, PRECISELY what British Nationalists want. We know this because it is EXACTLY what they have been campaigning for. #Referendum2018
British Nationalists hope that we will postpone a new referendum beyond the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections. Their intention is to mount a massive propaganda campaign with the aim of reducing support for the SNP. #Referendum2018
British Nationalists know that even a small drop in the SNP vote will create an opportunity for a 'Grand Coalition' of British parties to seize control of the Scottish Parliament. #Referendum2018
But the British political elite will not be idle between now and 2021. They will proceed with their plans to strip powers from the Scottish Parliament and hand them toan unelected shadow administration at the Scotland Office. #Referendum2018
Anyone who imagines 'UK-wide common frameworks' will be confined to powers 'repatriated' from the EUis dangerously naive. Wake up and realise that our NHS is not immune and it is being targeted. #Referendum2018
The damage done to our public services will, of course, be blamed on the SNP. This will feed into the propaganda campaign aimed at letting the British parties take control of Holyrood. #Referendum2018
The British state IS NOT benign. The British political elite will not graciously accommodate those who want to wait for a mythical 'Optimum Time'. To postpone the referendum is to concede victory to the 'One Nation' British Nationalist project. #Referendum2018
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"I am content to simply be Scottish - as in a person whose personal identity includes a component informed by the fact that I regard Scotland as the country to which I belong."
"I will not have notions of Britishness imposed upon me. And I am certainly not about to assert Britishness in order to pander to the political sensitivities of others."
"I'm Scottish, not British. As far as my personal identity is concerned, Britishness is an entirely redundant concept."
"The issue is not one of what powers the Scottish Parliament should have but of who gets to decide what powers the Scottish Parliament should have.
Only the people of Scotland..."
"Only the people of Scotland have the legitimate authority to make that decision. On Thursday 18 September 2014, for the first time in history, the people of Scotland will have the opportunity to exercise that authority through the democratic process. We will hold..."
"We will hold in our hands all the powers that the parliament of a nation should have. All the powers that we know we want for our parliament.
One of the great fallacies of the independence movement is the notion that people may be persuaded by 'factual' economic arguments, even supposing such a thing could be contrived. #DissolveTheUnion
The truth is that, long before a person arrives at any discussion of economic factors, their position has been firmly established on the basis of ideology, identity, partisan loyalty etc. #DissolveTheUnion
People who have already made up their minds about a social or constitutional issue turn to economists for algebraic affirmation and the confidence that comes from having assumptions, preconceptions and prejudices papered over with graphs and charts. #DissolveTheUnion
It is not reasonable for the Yes movement to suppose the the 'right time' for a new referendum is something which might simply emerge from conditions determined almost entirely by those most bitterly opposed to the very idea. #Referendum2018#DissolveTheUnion
The 'right time'for a new referendum is something which must be created by the Yes movement. The practicalities of this task remain the same regardless of when the referendum is declared or held. #Referendum2018#DissolveTheUnion
Only the circumstances in which the referendum is declared and held change over time. It is reasonable to suppose that, while those circumstances are determined by the British state, they will only become less favourable. #Referendum2018#DissolveTheUnion