Swinney swindles the Scots in favour of foreigners

John Swinney telling the BBC that EU votes are Scottish votes

The Scottish National Party is an oddball organisation at times. We know they have been keen on independence ever since the party was started, yet they have never been very keen on saying who the independence was for. Now we are getting dribs and drabs coming out. According to John Swinney, independence is for anyone in Scotland who has a vote at the time of the proposed referendum. Tough luck if you feel you are as Scottish as heather, whisky and shortbread. No vote if you live elsewhere in the United Kingdom. However, very un-Scottish types can vote. European Union citizens, of whom there are around 60,000 in Scotland, can vote. So if by some chance Alex Salmond wins the vote, but its down to a handful of Lithuanians, is that going to enhance a smooth passage to blissful separation?

The more this referendum gets to see the light of day, the more it is apparent that it is going to cause almighty problems. One thing that has always got me wondering is what would happen to the SNP after a positive vote? Would it disappear, job done, or stick around? It is seemingly a left of centre party, but would not Labour and the LibDems provide that political constituency? This is not like the Irish groupings of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael which grew out of the Irish Civil War. The Scottish National Party is rather like the Green Party, UKIP or the English Democrats. Single issue parties, claiming to offer "other policies as well".

I would dearly love to have a crystal ball that could tell me what a post-referendum independent Scotland would be like? What would the SNP think if, say, a newly-elected coalition Scottish government, not including the SNP, decided to petition the UK government for an annulment of the vote? Is independence set in stone? I would think not. Alex Salmond may think he can manipulate things his way, but public opinion changes. No second thoughts with second chances is rather undemocratic.

It would be a bad day all round if Scotland became separate because a few foreigners decided it would be fun to vote for it.

Posted in: Alex Salmond,John Swinney,Scottish Independence,Scottish National Party