Quotes on an independent Scotland

A selection of quotes I've found particularly interesting, inspiring, enlightening or amusing while taking part in the great debate on Scottish independence. I plan to update this from time to time as I find other quotes of interest.


"Vote for oil revenue, which we ensure flows directly from us into you.
"Vote for being told you’re the only country in the world that could not possibly survive and that without us you’d fall to pieces like children abandoned in the wild, caked in faeces."
Alan Bissett (in his brilliant video, 'Vote Britain')

"In our ‘home nations’ over the last thirty years we’ve all been absolutely taken for a ride. If you doubt the veracity of this statement, just look at where the distribution of wealth has gone. It hasn’t been to a beaten underclass, a working-class on paltry pay and suffering worsening conditions, nor has it found its way into the pockets of a debt-ridden, fearful middle-class. Notice who is doing better than okay? The UK state can be said to have served somebody well over the last thirty years; it just hasn’t been the vast majority of its own citizens."
Irvine Welsh, author

"Separatists like Alex Salmond want to duck the tough questions. He calls himself a social democrat yet he fails to deal with the many issues for democracy that arise from being a separate Scotland.
"He calls himself a progressive but what's progressive about breaking Scotland off from the rest of the United Kingdom then giving away powers to Europe?
"It completely defeats the SNP argument that Scotland would fare better with more control over its affairs when they seek to hand over so many serious areas of government elsewhere.
"And people want to know – and they have the right to know – what handing over those powers will mean. Joining Europe's borderless Schengen area … will open Scotland's border up to mass immigration."
Theresa May, Home Secretary

"An independent Scotland could lead to a revival of the Scottish Labour Party because many of Scottish Labour's problems stem from the fact that it has been de-radicalised through its ties to London. Independence would be like escaping from a political straitjacket. An independent Scotland would mean an independent Scottish Labour Party free to determine its own agenda in accordance with the values and aspirations of the people of Scotland."
Dennis Canavan, former Labour MP and chair of pro-independence campaign group Yes Scotland's advisory board.

“I want Scotland to be independent not because I think we are better than any other country but because I know we are just as good as any other country.”
Alex Salmond, First Minister

"And tuition fees are not the only battleground on which Salmond is trying to alienate the Auld Enemy.
"He has furnished the Scots with free personal care at home for the over-65s, free prescriptions, free hospital parking, and free school meals for five to seven-year-olds. Essentially, any public service which English taxpayers resent having to pay for, Alex Salmond will ensure becomes free for Scots.
"The message for English voters is: Granny McTavish is living it up at your expense.
"The great irony is that under EU law, Scottish universities are not allowed to discriminate against members of other EU states. Were Miss Watts a Belgian, a Pole or a Greek, she would be entitled to free education at a Scottish university. But English? Forget it."
Ross Clark, Daily Mail

"So for me, the question now is – why not? We know we can do this. If we can improve the standards of health care, be amongst the top in world rankings for academic research and science, use our public investment wisely to become a leading country in renewable energy – then we can take one more step. Take charge of all the economic and social and fiscal powers and responsibilities of any other nation."
Jeane Freeman, adviser to former Labour First Minister Jack McConnell

“Labour is flagrantly disregarding the fundamental core of our values on free healthcare and education for all. We have sat back and watched as the higher-ups of the party moved us away from the party of the worker to the party of the wealthy - a party which has the temerity to claim that Scotland has a something-for-nothing society. I’m sorry that I stood by and watched these people take away the real Labour values of my party. I’m sorry for letting my party take the people of Scotland for granted and I’m sorry that we ever let those who have done this to our once-great party come to power.
Allan Grogan, Labour party member and founder of Labour For Independence

"Now our case is not that Scotland cannot survive as a separate state. Of course it could."
Alastair Darling, leader of the 'Better Together' campaign

 "I don't mind whether you call it independence or Devo Max it is obvious the Scottish should run their own affairs."
Jon Snow, broadcaster

"We need to protect our old & vulnerable-to do that we need to take charge of our own affairs. That’s why we are voting Yes"
Craig & Charlie Reid, The Proclaimers

"...If that were to happen what alternative would England have but to come and bomb the hell out of Glasgow airport and Edinburgh airport?"
Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, on the possibility of an enemy commander ordering the runways at Scottish airports to be cleared because his planes would be landing

"All the issues that society has today, Scotland could be a beautiful example of a way forward if open & not too reactionary."
Annie Lennox, Eurythmics

"I'm going to see him on Monday to sort out that referendum on independence by the end of 2014.
"There are many things I want this coalition Government to do, but what could matter more than saving our United Kingdom?
"Let's say it, we're better together and we'll rise together, and let us fight that referendum with everything we've got."
David Cameron, UK Prime Minister

"It would be a shame if Scotland left the UK. On the other hand I don’t think it would be a disaster."
Armando Iannuci, writer/director

"If I had the chance to be independent from the Tory-Liberal-New Labour bunch, I‘d jump at it."
Ken Loach, director

“The SNP is going to have to explain what its plans are for the currency of Scotland, what its plans are for the defence of Scotland when it doesn’t have the protection of the UK, what its plans are for the Scottish economy when it’s not part of a larger economy.”
George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer

"Greens are not nationalists, and we're not motivated by devotion to one flag or the other. But we can see huge opportunities to make our country fairer and greener."
Patrick Harvie, Scottish Green Party

"What we found during the economic crisis was that a Scottish government would have been like an Irish or an Icelandic government.
"It couldn't have sustained the jobs in the financial services industry. Ninety percent of them were jobs that serviced English customers.
"We rescued the banks as a UK government. A Scottish government could never have done that.
Gordon Brown, former UK Prime Minister

"An independent Scotland will be outward looking, culturally confident, fiscally successful; an example to other small nations"
Brian Cox, actor

"No previous generation of Scots since the 1707 Treaty of Union has been tasked with that which has fallen to my generation: to decide the future of Scotland and the United Kingdom in a single Yes/No ballot. It is a privileged responsibility and, as such, one that calls for all Scots to reconsider where their existing loyalties lie. It's simply not acceptable for any Scot to close his mind to the idea of life in an independent Scotland and to declare the contest over 22 months before the referendum takes place."
Kevin McKenna, former deputy editor of The Herald and executive editor of the Daily Mail in Scotland