“Will it actually make any difference to us if Scotland becomes independent?”

It’s a fair question, and one that I’d hope everyone asks before deciding how to cast their vote in the referendum:

“Will it actually make any difference to us if Scotland becomes independent?”

Well, will it?

My top reasons for voting Yes are here:

#indyreasons To defend the Welfare State. To rid our lochs of WMDs. To renationalise mail service. To rid ourselves of austerity ideology.
— Trevor Chaplin (@TrevorChaplin) March 24, 2014

Let’s take those one at a time. First, defending the Welfare State. Can’t that be done through Westminster?

Not really. Westminster under the Tory/Lib-Dem coalition is dismantling the Welfare State, and rather than try to stop them, Labour is joining in. On Wednesday March 26th, Labour, the Party of Atlee and Bevan, voted in favour of the Tory Welfare Cap. Save the Children warned that the welfare cap will push 345,000 children into poverty over the next four years, but Labour voted in favour anyway.

Never forget Labour voted with the Tories on welfare cap. Save the Children warned cap will push 345,000 children into poverty. Shameful.
— Trevor Chaplin (@TrevorChaplin) May 17, 2014

What about the NHS? Hasn’t the NHS in Scotland always been separate? Isn’t it one of the current devolved powers?

Although the NHS in Scotland is devolved, there is a direct link between Westminster health spending and what’s available to Holyrood to spend on NHS Scotland.

As Westminster freezes or reduces public funding for the NHS in England, as less of the funding comes from the public purse, this would have a knock-on effect on Scotland's grant from Westminster, which the Barnett formula calculates as a percentage of public spending south of the Border.

Listen to Philippa Whitford, an NHS surgeon, explain why she is worried about the outcome of a No vote on the Scottish NHS:

“In five years England will not have an NHS as you understand it, and if we vote No, in ten years neither will we.”

See NHS for Yes: http://www.nhsforyes.org/

The Welfare State is an achievement to be cherished, but it is being undone. The Westminster arithmetic means that the parties chase a few swing constituencies, pulling the consensus rightward. (I discuss this more fully here: link) We have a chance to do things differently. We can build a social democratic consensus and defend the Welfare State.

What about nuclear weapons?

One of the actual Forces of Darkness, which we can get rid of by voting Yes: pic.twitter.com/oYVUc0TVbX

— Trevor Chaplin (@TrevorChaplin) April 8, 2014

Scottish CND are backing a Yes vote.

They are quite clear that a Yes vote is the best way to get rid of Trident.

Scottish CND has registered as a Yes campaigner with @ElectoralCommUK http://t.co/OyVgQqvsh2 #indyref pic.twitter.com/mqJiOMpQPw

— Scottish CND (@ScottishCND) May 20, 2014

The vast majority of Scots oppose Trident. And look at the opposition to replacing Trident: 80% of people are opposed – including 87% of people planning to vote Yes in the independence referendum, and 75% of No voters.

Think of the things we could spend that money on if we were to vote against nuclear weapons!

See Scottish CND’s own site here: Link

We can renationalise the Royal Mail. pic.twitter.com/yOsY568rTD

— Trevor Chaplin (@TrevorChaplin) May 26, 2014

If the SNP were to be the elected the first government in an independent Scotland, they have pledged to renationalise the Royal Mail. See this link

It’s likely, given the opposition to mail privatisation, that other parties would follow suit.

Never forget, austerity is an ideology, not a necessity. It is a choice that governments make, and it's the wrong choice. Miliband and Balls are committed to keeping the Tory austerity plans if they are elected to government in 2015.

Labour say they'll keep Tory austerity & Trident. Whoever wins at Westminster, a No vote is a vote for austerity, privatisation & WMD.

— Trevor Chaplin (@TrevorChaplin) May 10, 2014

If Scotland votes No, that will deliver a huge boost to the Tories. Labour are far from certain to win. But even if they do, they’ll keep austerity! Voting Yes gives us our best chance to rid ourselves of austerity.

The No campaign has been built on scare stories: telling us what we can’t do, what we shouldn’t do, and what we won’t be allowed to do. Perhaps you’ve seen the recent newspaper ads by the "Vote No Borders" campaign? (It's an organisation owned by Tory-supporting millionaires).

I’m not the most enthusiastic fan of the Wings Over Scotland site, but this is an excellent article taking each of those ads and examining the claims they make (where there are claims at all). Well worth a read. And a good summation of what we should be thinking about when we vote in September.

http://wingsoverscotland.com/the-head-and-the-heart/

And let’s not forget the effect that I hope and believe independence would have for the rest of the UK.

I think it'd give Westminster a big shock to the system. It'd be weakened, and that's an ideal time for the working class to make demands. The Welfare State was won at a time when the state recognised that the demands of the people had to be acceded to. If the people of the rUK seize the moment, I think a similar realignment of the consensus is possible. Especially if looking north, the rUK sees WMD going, the mail service being renationalised, the NHS being defended from cuts, and so on.

http://hourscotland.org/