First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond outlines the case for independence.
The case for independence is fundamentally a democratic one, meaning that decisions affecting Scotland will be taken in Scotland by the people who live and work here.
Two recent reports demonstrate in stark terms how Westminster’s priorities are not Scotland’s priorities.
One showed that more than 100,000 more people have fallen into poverty in Scotland in a single year – the other, from a panel of Westminster grandees, recommended spending billions of pounds on a new generation of Trident nuclear missiles.
That means a No vote would continue to see weapons of mass destruction on the Clyde at a cost of £4billion a year, despite a majority of MSPs at Holyrood being opposed to Trident, and a majority of Scottish MPs having voted against its renewal.
Independence will give Scotland the opportunity to make the most of all our great industries and our huge human and natural resources, from shipbuilding to life sciences, from oil and gas to the renewable energy revolution in which we are at the forefront of global innovation.
Scotland is one of the wealthiest countries in the world – richer per head than Japan, France, the UK and the majority of developed countries.
But for far too many people living in Scotland today, it doesn’t feel that way.
A Yes vote will mean investment in priorities like childcare, and substantial savings by not spending on Westminster priorities like Trident and not paying for sending MPs and peers to the Commons and House of Lords.
Independence will also
allow us to protect our vital public services, including
the NHS, as the privatisation of the health service in England threatens Scotland’s budget.
An independent Scotland will have a seat and a voice
at the top table in Europe for the first time ever, meaning we are able to fight for a better deal for our farmers and fishermen, the latter of whom were once described by Westminster as “expendable” in the UK’s negotiations with Brussels.
The alternative, if we do not vote Yes, is risking seeing Scotland dragged out of Europe against our will in an in-out referendum as Westminster dances to a Ukip tune.
That would have disastrous consequences for jobs and investment, cutting us off from a single market of more than half a billion people.
Scotland’s referendum is a defining moment for our nation.
Polling day itself will be a time when Scotland is sovereign for the first time in more than three centuries – and the decision the people make that day will determine whether we hand that sovereignty back to Westminster or move forward in a new 21st-century partnership of equals.
The choice people have on September 18 is a very simple one – should Scotland govern itself?
Should the parliament we voted for overwhelmingly 17 years ago have the full powers other national parliaments take for granted? Should we always get the governments we vote for?
And are the people of Scotland, who live and work here, best placed to decide our future?
When the UN was formed, it had only 50 member states – in the last 70 years or so, that has grown to more than 190 independent countries.
Independence is the natural state of being for nations – why should Scotland be different?
And only a Yes vote gives us the chance to create a brighter future.
September 18 is the historic opportunity of a lifetime.
This is Scotland’s moment – and we should grasp it with both hands.