The Path to a Fairer Society

One of my main driving points for desiring an independent Scotland is the prospect of my country being able to properly deal with societal issues issues such as inequality and rampant greed; both of which are extremely prevalent in modern day Britain. It is no secret that the UK is one of the most unequal countries in the modern industrialised world. The UK social equality currently sits at 28th out of the 34 OECD countries ranked on the Gini Coefficient; making the UK the 6th most unequal country in the industrialised world. Since the beginning of the recession, this has been the elephant in the room for Westminster.

Ever since the coalition was formed in the 2010 elections we have heard nothing but "we'll all have to suffer together", and the "Big Society". All the while we have seen every single millionaires earnings rise by £90'000 per year, and working families' incomes decrease by £800 per year. This to me, is a clear signal that Scotland needs full control over its economics, political, and social levers. It has already clearly been shown since Devolution Scotland has pursued a different path compared to the rest of the UK. In England & Wales we have seen public services being privatised; with areas of the NHS being outsourced to private companies, and talks of all Fire Services in England being handed over to private companies.

Gini Coefficient for the UK

This is very damaging for Scotland. Although we do under devolution control an array of powers that help us to distinguish ourselves form the rest of the UK and pursue policies which benefit the people of our nation; it is still not nearly enough. Pretty much all "Big Three" parties in Westminster heavily influence their Scottish subsidiaries, pulling strings behind the scenes to make Westminster policies flow, from a government we did not elect, directly into Scotland. There is clear evidence of these damaging practices happening.

Johann Lamont the Scottish Labour leader recently caused major controversy when she openly opposed universal welfare by stating that "Scotland is the only country in the world where we get everything for nothing". This came as a shock to many Labour voters who felt betrayed by the party they support, as this claim went against pretty much all traditional Labour values of social-democracy. After this rigmarole, Johann was quickly given a seat on the Labour Cuts Commission down in Westminster; I don't know about you but I smell a sell-out. This is a prime example of why Scottish politics need to stop being influenced by Westminster politicians.

Under Independence, all parties operating in Scotland would cease to be influenced by Westminster politics. This would mean that Labour, the Lib-Dem's, and even the Tories, would have to work for Scotland. They would have to put out policies which would appeal to the Scottish population; a population which has already shown to want to pursue a different path than that offered by Westminster. A more social-democratic, equitable path that would ensure that Scottish society, and politics, would not be influenced by the greed and corruption of Westminster.

Independence would also guarantee Scotland the proper powers in order to effectively tackle inequality in our country. It would enable a government, which the Scottish people actually elect, to use the full range of powers to put our views into our society. This claim is backed up by Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz who says that without independence Scotland cannot hope to effectively deal with problems such as wealth distribution, welfare, and inequality.

He presented his information, along with other leading economists, in the first Fiscal Commission Working Group Report. The report clearly states that since 1975, inequality in the UK has risen faster than any other industrialised country; and continues to do so. This has a stifling effect on prosperity and growth; it is no surprise that the most equal nations on Earth are among the most prosperous.

In conclusion, it can be surmised that Scotland needs independence if we, the people of Scotland, want to have a hope at addressing the growing problem of inequality in our nation. The full range of powers offered by independence would enable us to fully put to practice our views, and would enable us to build a society around the ideals we hold dear; without them being tarnished and influenced by Westminster.