Scottish Government to begin consultation for 2014 Referendum

First Minister Alex Salmond met his ministers to discuss plans for a referendum consultation

An approximate time for the Scottish Independence Referendum to take place has been set by the Scottish Government for Autumn 2014.

Yesterday saw a debate in Westminster House Of Commons on whether the Scottish Government had the legal authority to stage the referendum without London approval. However the Scottish Government has it's own legal opinion on Holyrood staging the referendum so Scottish Secretary Michael Moore is misinforming the Scottish people on the authority of the Scottish Government and this has led to a wise rebuke from First Minister Alex Salmond.

The fact that London insists in attempting to hijack the referendum with strings attached is contemptuous of not only the Scottish Government but the Scottish people who handed a mandate to the SNP to build and vote for a referendum in Scotland.

The conditions attached to the powers London is offering Holyrood is unacceptable. Correct that the Scottish Government will go ahead with the consultation process by the end of this month and make decisions entirely on consulting the Scottish people.

The London government want a referendum in the shortest possible time however this is not entirely fair or realistic. The referendum takes time to organise, firstly there is the consultation process then once opinions considered time is required to legislate within a year. And other Scottish elections have to be considered that require no clash with the Independence Referendum. Campaigning for or against the union will take time and allow the Scottish people to think carefully about the most important historic decision in 300 years of history.

At least the SNP Government is remaining open minded about having a Devo Max option on the ballot paper. Despite the preferred option of a straight Yes/No question only on the ballot paper the Scottish Government is at least willing to consider another substantial body of opinion in Scotland. Some Scots would opt for financial independence but not political independence. These opinions need to be considered despite my and our determination to campaign for full independence.

Another condition of London is to deny 16 and 17-year-olds the vote. Under 18s can marry at 16, work and pay taxes and join the armed forces. The young people in this age category should not be denied a vote in the historic decision whether to keep or ditch the union.

A special or Scottish Commission could be considered to oversee the organisation, fairness of the voting process. London wants the Electoral Commission to oversee the vote.

So there we have it well done to Alex Salmond for announcing the time of the 2014 Referendum during the House Of Commons debate and standing firmly in support of the authority of the Scottish Government to build, stage and run this referendum entirely in Scotland for the Scottish electoral residents.

Larry