I don’t have anything particularly noteworthy to say about it, but I wanted to mark the fact that ten years ago, Scotland voted in the first ever election in the newly-reformed Scottish Parliament. I was too young to vote in the first election, but I now take a reasonably keen interest in Scottish Parliament politics.

Overall, I view devolution as a success, and I think that the political process has both encouraged and reflected the diverging political environment between Scotland and the UK as a whole. For me, it has meant a more open, honest political process, some big public health wins (such as the public smoking ban), and most importantly, a greater sense of confidence in Scotland. It has also had its faltering, embarrassing moments, and periods of total farce.

I am curious about further powers, something that almost everyone agrees the Parliament needs.

A referendum on independence for Scotland is planned for next autumn. The Scottish National Party presented the referendum bill against unfavourable parliamentary arithmetic in March (and failed), but it’s likely to re-introduce it at some point. One would hope that the effect of the opposition to the bill would be to add additional options (a three-way poll, including a ‘devolution max’ option as well as independence and the status quo) rather than to prevent the whole enterprise altogether.

Consider this an open thread. What does devolution mean to you? Would independence give Scotland the clout it needs? Is ‘devolution max’ or some kind of more entrenched federalism the way to go?

Unexpected news:

Scotland on a knife-edge

“SUPPORT FOR independence has hardened in the face of the global recession, despite Labour predictions that the crisis would see more Scots turning to the Union for protection.

The latest TNS System Three survey for the Sunday Herald found support for leaving the union rose three points during the last quarter, while opposition to a separate Scottish state fell to its lowest level since the poll began 18 months ago.

The findings suggest the public has ignored Labour warnings that a breakaway Scotland would be doomed to join Iceland in the “arc of insolvency”.

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The poll was taken after opposition parties initially voted down the SNP government’s budget on February 28. Voters were reportedly unimpressed that MSPs could not agree a budget despite the country suffering the worst recession in decades.

The poll asked 971 adults how they would vote in a referendum on whether the Scottish government should open negotiations with Westminster on independence.

Support for commencing talks on separation was 38%, compared to 35% in October, while opposition was 40%, compared to 43%.”

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What say you, learned readers?

There was an entertaining exchange during First Minister’s Questions at Holyrood today. Annabel Goldie, the Tory leader. thought she could snare Alex Salmond with a clever line of questioning regarding the status of Scottish banknotes. She succeeded in making headlines:

Tory leader Annabel Goldie said today that Alex Salmond wants to make Scottish pound notes a foreign currency north of the border by ditching them for the euro.

The SNP favours adopting the euro if Scotland became independent, although party policy states there will be a referendum on the issue.

Miss Goldie said that under the SNP people will be able to spend Scottish banknotes in Brighton but not in Banff and Buchan – the constituency Mr Salmond represents at Westminster.

She challenged the First Minister on the issue the day after Tory MP David Mundell launched a private members’ bill at Westminster to make shops in England accept Scottish notes.

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But the attempt totally backfired. Not just because Salmond had a good answer ready, but because of the inference she was trying to make. After all, trying to paint Salmond as a radical separatist doesn’t fly – he embraces that image. And the issue of the Euro is, at long last, becoming considered as a serious option in the UK. So the point about sovereignty, of trusting a ‘centralised’ private bank, is probably moot too.

In Scotland, of course, the ‘debate’ about the Euro – to the extent that there has been any – is substantially different from the rest of the UK. The traditional argument against it, specifically that centrally-set interest rates don’t suit marginal areas and those with different types of economies, is less powerful here. There is a perception that this sort of thing has been going on for decades already. The argument goes that the Bank of England sets interest rates primarily with the economic base of the south-east of England in mind, so Scotland already faces this problem.

On another note, let’s hope that the Private Member’s Bill forcing English and Welsh firms to accept Scottish banknotes is passed. The situation at the moment – that Scottish notes are not legal tender anywhere, even in Scotland, is utterly ridiculous – and the scourge of many a a Scottish traveller. The concept of ‘legal tender’ doesn’t exist in Scottish law, which is why Scottish notes are ‘promissory’ in law. In England and Wales, only Bank of England notes are legal tender. But if the UK Parliament can figure out a way round that thorny issue, then all the better.

You have to love this guy:

“HIS plan to declare independence from the UK and create his own state on a tiny island off Shetland may sound like the plot of a quaint Ealing comedy.

But Stuart Hill’s quest to turn the windswept crag of Forewick Holm into the autonomous Crown Dependency of Forvik has been dealt serious blows by two timeless adversaries: mother nature and the taxman.”

“His case rests on a deal struck in 1469 when King Charles of Denmark effectively pawned Shetland to Scotland’s King James III to raise money for his daughter’s dowry. According to Hill, as the loan was never repaid and no other legal agreement was signed, Shetland was never officially part of Scotland and therefore is not subject to UK jurisdiction.”

Clyde Arc (Glasgow) at night. Photo by kevinmcc on Flickr.

A rare example of journalism from the Scotsman, in the form of a feature on devolution, independence, the credit crunch and Scotland’s future. The author gauges the feelings of people living and working around the Skye Bridge, Forth Rail Bridge, Clyde Arc and Stirling Bridge. A reasonable national barometer, I suppose.

I’ve been to Estonia. I was married in Malta when Scotland played there. That’s my aim for Scotland – to win the World Cup.”

So which does she think will happen first – Scottish independence or football glory? “Independence,” she laughs. “Definitely.”

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