Somewhat topically, my Mistress is writing a story about what happens with Scottish independence presuming it all turns nasty. She started writing it before Alex Salmond’s speech the other day. She’s wondering if he might like a copy of the story as a warning of what it could be like!
It poses an interesting question as to whether an independent Scotland could work. For my part I can see no reason against. It is a rather arrogant view to think we are better governed from the remote seat of power in Westminster. I know the people there are representing all the areas of the country, but they do spend most of their time living in London, which gives them a very narrow view on what life is really like. Oh, I understand that there are millions of people living in London and they are quite welcome to govern themselves, but how about having a Parliament that understood what it meant to live miles from the nearest city. In places where mobile network coverage is patchy and for some broadband is just a dream. Places where the water supply is cut regularly because you’re at the end of the line and power cuts are taken in your stride because they happen at intervals throughout the year. If our Members of Parliament lived in more rural settings, they would understand the importance of councils having enough grit for the winter and the difficulty of travelling to schools from outlying areas. I could only see it as a good thing for Government to be brought nearer to the people it governs.
I actually think that MP’s should live in their constituencies full time and should join Westminster by video link. That way they would cut the whole question of second home allowances out altogether and would be closer to the people they serve. It would be interesting to see if it made a difference to policies.