It is, I am reminded, now less than twelve hours until Scottish voters start to stream into polling stations in order to determine their future, which is nice, when you think about it. Or not, depending upon your persuasion.
In my case, I've tried to drum up some enthusiasm... and, for the most part, failed to do so. I've observed the passion, indeed the venom, of a campaign in which neither side has offered a genuinely credible vision worthy of a nation with increasing bemusement. On one hand, the Yes campaign has either wished away virtually all of the difficult questions or, worse yet, viciously attacked anyone who has the audacity to ask them, whilst the No campaign has veered from fearmongering to promising what appears to be the Earth if only Scots will stay in the Union, something which leads me to wonder what the rest of us might think about such largesse.
I have been inundated with requests to call voters north of the border - as if my accent would more good than harm - or give money, or sign letters saying how much I want the Scots to stay, all of which I have studiously ignored. It is, I think, none of my business, even though I am technically half-Scot myself (my mother was born in Keith, about halfway between Aberdeen and Inverness). I don't feel particularly Scottish, even though I could play football for them, and don't have a desperate sense that there is a part of me that yearns to be part of that nation.
No, if a majority of the Scottish electorate don't want to be part of the Union, then so be it. All I ask is that both sides understand that their behaviour during the campaign comes with consequences, regardless of whether they win or lose.
For the Yes campaign, who have promised a land flowing with milk and honey, the challenge of negotiating a settlement (note that I don't insert the word 'equitable' - no deal will be seen as such, regardless of the facts) with the very people they have so unpleasant about and to will be an interesting one. Doubtless anything that goes wrong after independence will be blamed on Westminster by the ultras, but they shouldn't expect the rUK negotiators to quietly roll over - the remaining nations will expect, nay demand, a robust approach.
And as for the No campaign, promises of more powers for Scotland within the framework of the United Kingdom mean more devolution of power for the rest of us, in other words, federalism. You can really see the Conservatives pressing for that, can't you? And as for the centralising control freakery tendency that lead the Labour Party, the very notion of giving away power to others would probably bring them out in hives. At least Liberal Democrat policy has always called for subsidiarity and the handing back of power to individuals and communities, even if some of my colleagues give an impression of being far more in favour of the theory than the actuality.
No, I'll save my passion, and my energy, for what happens next, whatever that may be. I'm a liberal, and what I care about is what is and what might be, rather than fret about missed opportunities and what might have been. For, regardless of the result tomorrow, we are likely to be waking up on Friday morning on a country that has changed forever...
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