Referendum Thoughts 3

There will be a second post today just in case the whole voting caper is boring you - don't worry, if I wasn't required to vote, I'd be ignoring it too.

This week sees me leaning over the fence towards the Independence campaign. Oddly, not because I actually feel strongly about voting yes but because I am completely turned off by the bampottery* of the pro-unionist campaigners. I am genuinely struck by the notion that their campaign is actually aimed at supporting the yes campaign in a subversive manner. It also beggars belief that David Cameron is currently up here, not to underline the critical stage of proceedings, but to join the Queen on her annual hoolie at the Highland Games. Fiddle, burn, Rome.....? We know we mean the world to you Dave!

The No campaign's main tactic has been the promulgation of fear, posing unanswerable questions and suggesting nightmare scenarios of the irretrievable collapse of society. And it worked, in the early stages, at least. Now, as the arguments, alternative options and common sense become more sophisticated and the horizons open, their scaremongering has left them looking vexatious with no second line of argumentation.

I feel their campaign resembles domestic abuse where an unhappy spouse, who wants to leave, is constantly berated with their alleged inadequacies and inability to go it alone without the partner. The key here is that Scotland has a sense of being belittled as part of the Union which is why the Independence referendum has arisen in the first place. "Stay with us, we'll treat you better but we wont tell you how till you've rejected Independence" might be a genuine offer but its a really big gamble.

Scotland, and Glasgow in particular, almost always plumps for Labour and, no matter how corrupt or poorly a Labour administration does, they get voted straight back in! However, Ed Milliband's recent visit cannot have failed to annoy even their most dedicated adherent. Crowning it off with 'we'll seal off the border if you don't comply' made me wonder if he was authorised to commit the necessary billions needed to that project. The odour of fear in their campaign is getting very strong. I can't decide if it relates to us both becoming vulnerable if we split or from their sudden realisation that there is something momentous to lose if we take our own path.

By default all this bolster's the Yes campaign to my mind. It makes their vision of a potential brave new future through a fresh, modern Scandi-style government more tantalising. Yesterday, was also an historic day for me; two Independence campaigners came to my door to ask my opinion. This is the first time since I was a child that I've seen a particular side/party bother to engage with individual voters. They didn't alter my view (undecided) and went away with a flea in their ears over their own campaign inadequacies but I was impressed that they were at least game enough to pitch up.

The next ten days should get interesting as it is alleged there is an air of panic in the No campaign and all trains North are booked solid. Let's see if they have a case to put forward?

*Bampottery- absolutely no idea if this is a real word but its meaning is clear and has definite resonance, for me anyway, in relation to political madness.