The reasons for Scottish Independence

The real question is not can Scotland be independent, but rather, should Scotland be an independent country? And, more and more people in Scotland are saying Yes. There are many reasons why Scotland should be independent. Here are three With Yes we’ll have Scotland’s future in our own hands. And that means we will make better choices for people living here. We’ll be able to make sure Scotland’s wealth and resources deliver more for you and for communities across Scotland, because economic and social policy will be based on the priorities and needs of the people of Scotland. That’s much better than having bad decisions taken for us by politicians at Westminster.With just 59 MPs out of 650 at Westminster, we can easily be outvoted – and regularly are. We voted against nuclear weapons, post office privatisation and the bedroom tax, but we got stuck with them anyway. And, we’re regularly left with governments that we did not vote for and that means policies most of us rejected get imposed on us. With Yes we can build a fairer country. The UK is an increasingly unfair country. In fact, we live in one of the most unequal countries in the industrialised world. Since 1975 the gap between the very rich and the rest of us has been growing faster in the UK than in any other comparable industrialised country. Scotland is wealthy enough to be a fairer country – like similarly sized small independent countries. That means we can choose to: Deliver a transformational increase in childcare and early years education, to make life easier for young families and give our youngsters the best possible start in life. Completely abolish the Bedroom Tax and halt some of the worst and most damaging changes to our welfare system introduced by the current Tory government.

Make savings of £600 million each year from no longer paying for things like nuclear weapons or politicians at Westminster. With Yes we can build a more prosperous country. More often than not, Westminster choices aren’t the right ones for Scotland. With the full powers of Yes, Scotland can put in place policies that match our economic priorities to create jobs and grow our economy. Here’s just a few that would make a big difference to all our lives:  Save some of the revenues from our £1.5 trillion (in wholesale value) remaining oil and gas reserves to create a rainy day fund so that we are more financially secure in the future. Choose a fairer tax system so that hard-pressed households are guaranteed cost of living increases in things like their tax credits and tax free allowances. Introduce targeted tax policies to encourage job creation, for example, reducing the costs of small businesses employing people through lower Employers' National Insurance Contributions What’s clear is that Westminster isn’t working for Scotland. We can all agree that the best people to make decisions about Scotland’s future are those that live and work here. Scotland’s people should be at the very heart of decisions about Scotland – not an afterthought. With Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands we can make sure that happens.

Source: Scottish Yes Campaign.

Jorge Aliaga in HIgh Street, Edinburgh, Scotland, April 2014