Imagine yourself at a very smart dinner
party and the conversation gets round to the issue of Scottish independence.
Suppose people whose intelligence and thoughtfulness you’ve long respected,
such as Sir David Attenborough and historians Simon Schama and Professor Mary
Beard, said they thought that it was in the best interests of Scotland to
remain within the United Kingdom rather than going it alone in the world.
Then people who were at the top of
their professions, such as the former chiefs of the Defence Staff, Marshal of
the Air Force ‘Jock’ Stirrup, Lord Stirrup, and Field Marshal Charles Guthrie,
Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, agreed with them, as did the former head of the
Royal Navy, Admiral Sir Alan West.
At the other end of the table, some of
the brainiest people in Europe, including Stephen Hawking and the former
Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow, wholeheartedly agree.
Wouldn’t you listen very carefully to
what they have to say? Especially if historians of the calibre of Margaret
MacMillan and Tom Holland, intellectuals of the experience of Melvyn Bragg and
Joan Bakewell, actors of the quality of Sir Patrick Stewart and Dame Judi Dench
also weighed in, saying exactly the same thing?
Wouldn’t these views be at least worth considering very profoundly? Not
if you’re someone of the vanity and self-regard – or perhaps by now the sheer
desperation – of Alex Salmond.
The Yes campaign has sneered at the
opinions of some of the most profound thinkers and intellectuals of our day who
have just written a joint letter opposing Scottish independence, simply because
they were joined on the page by a number of TV celebrities, comedians and
social gadflies who were asked to join the 200-strong list.
Further Reading
Beyond
the Scottish Independence Question, Looking at a Greater Devolution in The
United Kingdom, A Perspective
"Economists warned that a debt default would wreck the country’s
reputation for fiscal responsibility."
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