15 September 2014 - Scotland: Party leaders love the Scots
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Party leaders now love the Scots. But what about the UK’s minority groups?
Hugh Muir (The Guardian)
It’s the mantra of pragmatists everywhere: never waste a good crisis. For those who fear the breakup of the United Kingdom, we are in crisis. And in reacting to crisis, people do all sorts of things they would not normally do; say all manner of things they would not normally say. No one deliberately seeks out crisis. But it does concentrate the mind.
Faced with impending doom, the British political establishment has resorted to a song of love for the Scots. Perhaps it was there all along, but only with the waters rising, the plane nosediving, the precipice looming have Britain’s leaders felt the need to voice it. We love you, we need you, they say. We are you. We may have done you wrong in the past, but look at what we have built together. Our achievement is your achievement, our future is your future. Let’s go forward as equals.
Good for the Scots. Whatever the outcome on 18 September, they have forced a reassessment and probably a realignment. If only the three party leaders, the political establishment and the media would sing a similar love song to Britain’s minorities. I have no illusions about this. The ties of indigenous Britain go back much further. There is shared history, comparable religion, shared culture. I’m not setting up some kind of facile competition. But just as the Scots have toiled to make this country what it is today, so have others whose ancestors journeyed here to be part of the Great British project.
Read on...
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Royal opinion
Chris Green (The Independent)
The Queen finally broke her silence on the issue of Scottish independence yesterday, telling a member of the public that she hoped “people will think very carefully about the future” when they headed to the polls later this week.
The monarch’s words – which were interpreted by some as offering encouragement to Unionists without leaving her open to accusations of political meddling – came as the long campaign entered its final week, with tensions high and tempers increasingly frayed.
Her interjection into the debate came as the debate over the economic case for independence continues to rage. A report published on Monday by a leading think-tank suggests that the Yes campaign has underestimated the financial risks of separation, which it said lay in oil, finance and pensions.
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Media
Stephen Wilkie (The Express)
A huge crowd, many with flags and banners, gathered outside its Pacific Quay studios in Glasgow following a march from the city centre.
It came after Alex Salmond accused the BBC of colluding with Westminster to derail a Yes vote.
Protesters chanted “BBC, shame on you”, and a banner hung over the building’s entrance called for its political editor Nick Robinson to be sacked.
Mr Salmond clashed with the journalist last week after RBS threatened to register in London if voters back independence.
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Polls
Ned Simons (The Huffington Post)
The future of the United Kingdom hangs in the balance, as a series of polls released over the weekend indicate the result of the Scottish referendum remains too close to call.
With under a week to go until the vote, three surveys showed the No campaign clinging to a slender lead. However an ICM poll for The Sunday Telegraph has the Yes campaign 8% ahead.
Reacting to news of the ICM poll, Blair Jenkins, the chief executive of Yes Scotland, said it showed "everything to play for" before September 18. "We are working flat out to ensure that we achieve a Yes vote, because it's the biggest opportunity the people of Scotland will ever have to build a fairer society and more prosperous economy," he said.
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"15 September 2014 - Scotland: Party leaders love the Scots", La Clé des Langues [en ligne], Lyon, ENS de LYON/DGESCO (ISSN 2107-7029), septembre 2014. Consulté le 25/04/2024. URL: https://cle.ens-lyon.fr/anglais/key-story/archives-revue-de-presse-2014/15-september-2014-scotland-party-leaders-love-the-scots