The Scottish Government

First Minister Alex Salmond

Friday, November 30, 2007

We in the Scottish Government believe that sovereignty in Scotland lies with its people.

That is why our manifesto for the Scottish Parliamentary elections this year promised to provide an opportunity for the people to consider the concept of Scottish independence in a referendum during this Parliament.

As First Minister, it is my responsibility to explore and lead discussion on the options for constitutional change. I lead the first Scottish National Party Government to be elected in a devolved Scotland, so I will put the case for independence, its benefits and opportunities.

However, I also recognise there is a range of other views in our country and represented in the Parliament. The national conversation on our future is to allow the people of Scotland to debate, reflect and then decide on the type of Government which best equips Scotland for the future.

It is 10 years since the referendum to establish the Scottish Parliament. We have seen the potential of a Scottish Parliament to respond to the wishes and needs of the people of this country. But we have also seen the limitations of its current responsibilities.

I believe it is now time for us, the people of Scotland, to consider and choose our own future in the modern world.

Alex Salmond, First Minister

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Comments

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• 291. Hector MacQueen - Edinburgh

  Tuesday, August 14, 2007 22:33

  The discussion here seems to be all about the independence option. But the White Paper actually sets out two other options: a thoroughly revised devolution settlement with significantly greater powers for the Parliament, or some relatively ad hoc changes to the present state of things, e.g. take broadcasting off the list of reserved matters. As some on the list have pointed out, this doesn't include the option of giving up devolution altogether; nor does it offer the possibility of retaining the status quo. The national conversation should canvass all these possibilities, and also perhaps another matter raised in the White Paper, whether on such crucial developments we need to have a series of referendums, and if so how these might best be framed.

• 292. Kevin Macpherson - Dundee

  Tuesday, August 14, 2007 22:35

  I consider myself Scottish and have never once considered myself as British. Its not all about economics, its about having pride in your country. I admire what Salmond and the SNP stand for and for the opposition parties to not let people have their say is down right ridiculous.

• 293. Tom - England

  Tuesday, August 14, 2007 22:38

  Does an Independent Scotland mean that the rest of the UK will be able to stop paying for them?

• 294. Jim Johnston - Livingston

  Tuesday, August 14, 2007 22:38

  Well said to Ross McLean (comment 6). I believe we have a lot more pressing issues to resolve as a proud nation before we can begin to believe that we, as an independent state, can be self sufficient.
  As it stands we are a country with reportedly a third of the population living below the poverty line. A country with the highest death toll due to heart attack in Europe. Overcrowded schools, overcrowded prisons, underfunded health service and overstretched emergency services.
  Let us first of all show that we can solve our problems while we have the support of the union, before contemplating independence as a way forward.

• 295. Ian - Galashiels

  Tuesday, August 14, 2007 22:39

  Self government is the natural and normal state for a nation. It should hold no fears for a nation of such wealth and enterprise as Scotland. The idea that Westminster knows best in all matters is a myth that has already been dispelled. I admire the intelligence being displayed by the current Scottish Government, which compares so well with the narrow-minded and defensive posture of the Scottish Labour Party. At the end of the day, the people will decide this question and a Tory/Liberal/Labour coalition against letting us decide is doomed to fail and doomed to damage its misguided proponents.

• 296. H - Edinburgh

  Tuesday, August 14, 2007 22:43

  If the SNP will take us clear out of Europe and its lunatic legislation imposed by unelected politicians then I am 100% for indepedence

• 297. Neil Hourston - Tain

  Tuesday, August 14, 2007 22:43

  With the vast benefits of independence clearly pointed out to the Scottish people, and given the chance to vote on it, I believe that the majority of the nation would vote for independence!

• 298. John - Glasgow

  Tuesday, August 14, 2007 22:46

  Id it true that the proposals are to have us Scots still remain subjects of the Queen of England but independent? If not good because I will vote to be a free citizen of an independant republic but not to remain a sublect of a foreign monarch.
  

• 299. Reg Kearns - Edinburgh

  Tuesday, August 14, 2007 22:47

  Scotland has, as the First Minister noted, been stuck in the slow lane for long enough. Ireland had the courage to move for independence almost a century ago, we should grasp the opportunity too. The Union made sense in a world of empire, where Scotland's interests could sensibly conform with those of England. In the modern world, versatile, knowledge-based economies are the way forward. We neither need the Union, nor does the Union fully appreciate the needs of Scotland in the modern world. The First Minister should be congratulated on taking the initiative and should continue to provide the leadership to steer a steady course towards independence.

• 300. Boaby Mackintosh - Glasgow

  Tuesday, August 14, 2007 22:48

  I would just like to live in a normal country where we make our own decisions instead of our neighbours doing it for us. i would like to not be involved in illegal wars resulting in the death of young Scots and I would like to have our own news service instead of the priority coverage being issues which occured in in another country.
  
  Not too much to ask surely.

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