Post referendum debate this evening, I wanted to post a thought I had following the closing statements from Mr Darling and Mr Salmond- My mind was drawn to a scenario of an employee- disgruntled and fed up at work, fed up that they don't believe they are treated correctly by their big bosses, that their pay, conditions and rewards are disproportionate to what they contribute and how they perform. Instead of being praised and rewarded, their situation worsens and their family suffers due to cutbacks and bosses giving the 'good rewards' and bonuses to their 'buddies'. Said disgruntled employee finds a possible better opportunity of employment elsewhere, with the hope that they can reap the benefits of change and allow them to shape a better and hopefully more prosperous future for themselves. Notice handed in...and then the employer suddenly whacks a counter offer on the table, with promises they now want to try and offer.. Why has it taken for the employee to threaten to leave this situation, for the employer to offer said promises? Why do they not appreciate and respect the employee during their time of service... Why, oh why, oh why does it take the threat of possible independence for Scotland from the UK for Better Together/Westminster to start throwing promises of 'powers' and 'we will do this and that for you' if you stay with the UK. What do WE (Scotland) have as a country that they so want to keep? It's obvious that Scotland has always been treated differently to the rUK- but now they risk the possibility of us vacating our employment as their toy in the north, they start to make empty promises. Sorry Westminster, it's a YES from me, I hereby give you my notice and would like to resign.
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Ok, I know a lot of people are getting fed up with referendum posts and articles and photographs being shared. I can see how it can be annoying, especially when you come on here to share photos of friends, babies and your days/nights out... However, there is no doubt that this referendum is engaging voters and those who may have never voted in politics more than anything has ever done before possibly in any of out lifetimes. I wanted to share a bit about why I, personally, am taking a leap of faith to hopefully meet the angel we may one day know - Independence. Having been a no voter since well before Eck and his pals announced the referendum date, I openly now admit that I was doing so on mainly an uninformed basis- why? Ok, I'll admit it, because I am not a fan of the SNP and because I do not particularly 'like' Alex Salmond. I've never voted for the SNP in my life, nor could I see myself actually doing so post-referendum. So what does this tell you about me/the referendum?... *it's not about the SNP or Alex Salmond, or Nicola Sturgeon for that matter* - it's about the people of Scotland, having the opportunity to shape the future of our country and to be given the chance to create a fairer, more equal, prosperous and generous society and to give hope to the thousands and thousands of youngsters growing up in Scotland today. I look at the articles published by the Better Together campaign each day, and I continually ask- why, if we are such a burden (Apparently!) to the rest of the UK, do they want us to stay? Why do they want to keep us as part of the UK? The figures are there for all to see, we pay in 9.9% and get back 9.3% (based on 11/12 figures). May well be best adding that Boris Johnson (quite possibly our next PM) has openly come out and stated that he would cut back on the % given back to scotland for our pocket money. Quite possibly down to around 8%. This, coupled with the fact that UKIP are on the rise down south, fills me with dread. Why? Because parties like UKIP have openly come out and stated that if they had anything to do with matters that benefits such as maternity pay would be scrapped...what a fair, just and equal society we may face in the future of our country being part of the UK eh? We are being given *promises* from the powers that be in Westminster that we will be given more powers (tax raising etc)...yet Bojo was quoted only a matter of weeks ago stating '...for no reason we are promising the Scots more tax raising powers. There’s no need.' Talk about showing the little child the sweeties to get them to do something, then when they do it, snatching the *reward* from them once the *grown ups* have achieved what they desired. There's also been a lot of commentary posted on my timeline from both sides about the Scandinavian countries and people stating that they are concerned that we would face higher taxes and be unable to live or survive, that this would push Scottish tax payers to the brink. Now, I don't have a crystal ball and I'm not mystic meg so I can't obviously state what our income tax levels would be. But having done some reading about these countries I can quite honestly state I wouldn't turn down a job there if my circumstances were different- 18 months PAID maternity leave with that being split between mother and father; sick pay at 80% of your salary; unemployment benefit of similar levels based on past employment; a huge contribution towards childcare to allow working mothers to be just that (we do not get assistance towards childcare here until our child reaches the age of 3 and even then it currently only pays for just over 3 hours a day during school term). Now I'm not stating that people who do not have children should pay for working mothers' childcare- a system which works properly on the above basis would help all members of society...what do working mothers pay too? TAX. Allowing us to reap the skills and knowledge of those mothers who could previously not afford to return to work. Some of these countries also allow a retirement age with state pension payable from 55-65. I would reckon most of us, under the current Westminster government will retire with a very small, if any at all, state pension. I can see myself, the way things are being done at present, working until I am 70!!!!! "As a matter of comparison, Sweden does not have food banks. Their tax structure and their balance of union labour and corporate enterprise and political will, results in a society and economy where people do not fall into the cracks and are not fearful of being unable to provide for their families. Is this too complicated for our politicians?" I fear for what may be in the event of a no vote for Scotland. What future is there for Scotland under a Tory government in Westminster? Can people advise me what good the fast austerity cuts have done for the GREATER GOOD in Scotland? If 1 in 4 children now living in poverty in Glenrothes alone is a good thing then let's continue to live under the rule of a government which sits 600 miles away and who quite clearly believe that disadvantaging the most vulnerable in our society such as the disabled and impoverished families with legislation such as the bedroom tax, then yeah, let's continue with the status quo! I'm not saying that I think an independent scotland can wave a magic wand to eradicate child poverty, to narrow the gap between the rich and poor and to give us a welfare state better than that anywhere else in the world. But what I do feel is that the system and the country is broken, it needs fixed and I cannot see things changing with a Westminster rule. It's not all about the oil, Eck and the SNP- it's about US, the people of SCOTLAND taking OUR future into OUR hands and at least trying to do what is best for our future generations. |
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