The United Kingdom is more than just politics, it’s our country. The UK was formed over 300 years ago and is one of the most influential and prosperous countries in the world. The United Kingdom has been so successful because we worked together as one to build up the country that we have today. The Nationalists are divisive, they want to break apart the United Kingdom.
The most effective way to deal with social issues is not to break apart, but to work together to try and sort out the real issues that matter; not separating the United Kingdom. The SNP have been in government in Scotland for 10 years. It is time that the SNP took responsibility for their failings on education and many aspects of the health service. If the Nationalists spent most their time tackling the failings of the education system, instead of separating United Kingdom, then maybe would have an education system that works. The OECD has ranked as Scotland’s education system the lowest it has ever been.
The SNP like to blame the United Kingdom for many of Scotland’s issues, though it is time they started taking responsibility for themselves. The SNP has cut council budgets, yet at the same time spending towards Scotland has increased – doesn’t this tell us that the SNP cannot manage the financial responsibility properly? The SNP must stop focusing on the constitution, they are systematically neglecting the governance of Scotland. As more devolved powers come to Scotland with that comes far more responsibility. If the success of devolution is based on the education system in Scotland, then we should be worried.
Now, Nicola Sturgeon would like to use this General Election to bolster up support for another divisive and costly referendum on splitting up the United Kingdom. Imagine if the SNP focused the same amount of attention on an independence referendum, as the education system, maybe it would start to improve. It is not right that we go backwards into another divisive referendum, Scotland has had enough. Therefore, the majority must be heard, I say NO to another referendum and yes united Scotland.
It was once said that the 2014 referendum was ‘once in a generation’ vote, that’s clearly just not the case. Many Scots like myself are concerned about the deep uncertainty of an SNP government. It’s also why businesses say that they’re more concerned about another referendum on splitting up the United Kingdom, than the UK leaving the European Union. The economic uncertainty caused by Nicola Sturgeon is damaging Scotland, we are basically stagnating until we know what she has planned – this is unacceptable.
The SNP don’t have a credible plan for Scotland leaving the United Kingdom. They don’t have a currency plan, they won’t tell us who the lender of last resort will be and they don’t tell us how they will tackle the largest deficit in Europe, and one of the biggest in the world. As part of the United Kingdom Scotland enjoys relatively low levels of taxation while receiving the same levels of public spending as Scandinavian countries. It’s clear that it’s not the United Kingdom holding Scotland back from prospering, it’s the SNP government who are constitutionally wrangling us. There are many people who are confused, worried, and angry – again, this is unacceptable.
To finish off this blog, I will say it again – we cannot cope with the SNP holding Scotland to ransom. It is also not viable for them to continually blame the Westminster government for devolved issues that aren’t functioning properly, the media needs to hold the SNP government to account. It’s a shame that once a proud part of the United Kingdom has become associated simply as the SNP – because for many, being Scottish wasn’t about splitting up the United Kingdom, it was about being proud of being part of a strong United Kingdom, while being proud of being British and Scottish; equally. We must now unite together and ensure that we oppose another divisive referendum for the sake of the Scottish economy, our livelihoods and the future generations of not only Scotland, but the entirety of the United Kingdom; because the separation of the United Kingdom will not just affect Scotland, but it would be detrimental to the entire United Kingdom.
By Samuel Jones, Edinburgh