A Union of Equals has argued for radical change in the relationship between Scotland and rUnited Kingdom for over two years. We have argued that the current union is not fit for purpose and it is a union that no other nation would contemplate joining in the twenty-first century. This argument has recently been reiterated by George Monbiot. In his article in the Guardian http://bit.ly/1qyPQ6l he asked us to consider the following.

“an independent nation is asked to decide whether to surrender its sovereignty to a larger union. It would be allowed a measure of autonomy, but key aspects of its governance would be handed to another nation. It would be used as a military base by the dominant power and yoked to an economy over which it had no control.

It would have to be bloody desperate. Only a nation in which the institutions of governance had collapsed, which had been ruined economically, which was threatened by invasion or civil war or famine might contemplate this drastic step. Most nations faced even with such catastrophes choose to retain their independence – in fact, will fight to preserve it – rather than surrender to a dominant foreign power”.

He concludes this discussion with the question “How is the argument altered by the fact that Scotland is considering whether to gain independence rather than whether to lose it? It’s not”.

There is no difference at all. The union that exists today is inequitable and unacceptable. It is not a union that any other nation would willingly enter into. The vast majority of people in Scotland today know this and they want radical change.

Sadly, in an act of complete arrogance, the UK government, in concert with the unionist political parties, killed off any possibility of this radical change occurring within the Union despite knowing that this is what the majority of Scots clearly wanted. They made the decision binary, Yes or No to independence.  They insisted on this because they believed that the result would be a foregone conclusion. They believed that by instigating Project Fear they could scare the people of Scotland into voting No.

How very wrong they were. The people of Scotland have not been intimidated; they have recognised the lies in the scare stories, they have seen the arrogance of the UK establishment; they have not been fooled by the deceit.  Not only have the unionists misjudged the mood of the Scottish people they have scorned many opportunities to regain the initiative. Over the last two years there have been numerous opportunities for them to change tack and win the argument outright. They have failed to take any of them. If they had listened, if they had responded with radical proposals for change that met the hopes and aspirations of so many Scots, they would have had the referendum won already.

The No campaign has not taken the opportunities. They have stuck to their arrogant and intransigent attitude and it appears that they are now about to pay the price. There is a distinct possibility that Better Together is about to lose the referendum with only themselves to blame.

During the referendum campaign the No supporters have failed abysmally to provide any evidence based arguments to support their case. They have produced nothing but an unsubstantiated string of lies. They have attempted to generate nothing but fear.  In contrast, the amazing grass roots Yes movement has produced substantial amounts of intelligent and thought provoking arguments to support the case for Yes. The Wee Blue Book http://bit.ly/1nC0GW2 stands out as a shining example of the effective use of honest facts and figures to justify the argument that Scotland can be a successful and sustainable nation. It is a fine example of the hope that the Yes campaign has been able to generate.

Better Together has arguably conducted the most distasteful, dishonest, and deceitful political campaign in UK history. These people do not deserve to win the referendum on any count. If justice is to prevail the only fair result is a win for Yes. It is now down to the Scottish people to decide on this. We strongly recommend that on the 18^th of September the people of Scotland give the negative No’s a really good skelping.  

We urge the people of Scotland to take their future in their own hands and move forward in hope   towards a more fair and just society, a society that can never be attained in the dysfunctional and moribund United Kingdom.  We implore all voters in Scotland to pay heed to the words of Nelson Mandela when they mark there voting slips on the 18^th September, “may your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears”.