Scotland the Brave ...?

...who knows what the future holds...?

First a confession...

I am English; I'm a bit Irish and a bit French apparently, but overall I'm English - born in the industrial heartland of Birmingham at the Dudley Road Hospital...

I have no particular view on whether Scotland should or should not stay in the United Kingdom; it's really for the Scots' to decide. 

Personally I think it would be a shame to fragment the UK - I am a believer that there is strength in cohesion and union rather than independence and isolation, however, if the people of Scotland are better off out of the Union, then of course they should have the opportunity to make and exercise that choice..

However, the process of the Referendum just seem plain wrong to me...

Let's imagine this scenario...

You have a car - you've had it for some time, you've got used to it, it creaks a bit but it gets you around and it's not likely to break down anytime soon...

One day awhile out shopping in the city, a dodgy looking Salesman in a Crombie coat approaches and offers you shiny new car...

It is so new that it hasn't even been built yet, no one else has one and there has never been one exactly like it built by anyone else...

The price is unknown, there is no warranty and there will be no trade in value on your old car.

Should you agree to buy this car, you have to keep it until you die and it has to be passed to your children and their children's children for decades if not centuries to come...

How is he doing...?

Attractive proposition...?

Faced with this proposition, most people would either walk away, or at least ask some questions, such as...

1. What does it cost...?
2. Will it perform better than my existing car..?
3. What does it actually look like...?
4. Is it safe to drive...?
5. Can I take it abroad...?
6. What extras does it come with as standard...?

In other words, no one in their right minds would choose the new car based on the information available; the risk is too high, and not enough is known about the new car to compare it to the old one to see if it as good deal..

Then the Salesman reminds you that the people who made your existing car were ruder and unfair to your family back in 1746 and as such should not be trusted...

Hmmmmm....

My observation is not that Independence from the UK is a good thing or a bad thing for the people of Scotland; it may well be that it is the best decision they could make as they become the richest country in the world...

It is that the people of Scotland seem to be agreeing to scrap their existing car, jump into a shiny new one without actually knowing anything about it...

When you decide on a Car - let alone a life changing decision, you should know the consequences of that decision before you make it; for example...

1. What happens to the Oil reserves..?
2. Will Spain veto membership of the EU for Scotland...?
3. What currency will we use - and what will the exchange rate be...?
4. Is my pension safe..?
5. Do I still get NHS cover..?
6. What military will we have to pay for...?

Simply put, no one seems to be able to answer these and other basic questions, but on Thursday the good people of Scotland will be expected to decide whether to go for it or not...

You wouldn't buy a car with this level of information, how can you decide on independence with it...?

Define the details first, then decide on the deal - not the other way round...

Whatever happens, I wish the UK and Scotland as it is and as it may become, the very best; for now I am staying in France and watching with interest...