100 Reasons for Yes

With 100 days til the Referendum, I’ve compiled my top 100 reasons for voting Yes – by no means an exhaustive list!

Also posted on the RIC Aberdeen blog.

1. To build a country we can be proud of.
2. Because Scotland is NOT too wee, too poor, too stupid.
3. For our children and grandchildren.
4. For our wildlife and ecosystems.
5. For our poor and disenfranchised.
6. For our friends south of the border – let’s inspire them to work for more regional powers.
7. For ourselves – because we’ve waited long enough.
8. For the chance to create real change.
9. For the chance to make our own mistakes.
10. Because the opportunity is too good to pass up.
11. Because no country has ever regretted gaining independence.

12. To rid Scotland of nuclear weapons.
13. To preserve our NHS.
14. To preserve and rebuild our welfare state.
15. To abolish the Bedroom tax.
16. To patch the holes in the social safety net.
17. To develop a sensible benefits system.
18. To strengthen workers’ rights.
19. To reverse the austerity agenda.
20. To use our wealth to benefit everyone – not just the rich.
21. To reduce inequality.
22. Because inequality affects everyone – not just the poor.
23. Because the status quo is not fair, it’s not rational, and it’s not working.

24. To end the need for food banks.
25. To abolish zero hours contracts.
26. To renationalise the Royal Mail.
27. To ensure adequate care for all children, and for all adults who need it.
28. To invest in the future instead of clinging to the past.
29. To keep higher education fee-free.
30. To abolish ATOS (or whatever takes its place).
31. To shift into a carbon-neutral economy.
32. To become a world leader in renewable energy.
33. To transform land ownership.
34. To try new ways of doing things.
35. To let tomorrow’s young people continue shaping their country.

36. To preserve our relationship with Europe.
37. To make our own immigration policy.
38. To make our own foreign policy.
39. To choose how we want to defend ourselves.
40. To stay out of illegal wars.
41. To invest in our infrastructure and public services.
42. To set tax rates appropriate for Scotland.
43. To ensure Scottish taxes are spent in Scotland.
44. To enforce our own tax laws.
45. Because whisky exports are already worth £4.3 billion.
46. Because Scotland is already the best-educated country in the world.
47. Because we’ll be one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

48. Because the Tories want us to vote No.
49. Because the bosses and millionaires want us to vote No.
50. Because Johann Lamont wants us to vote No.
51. Because big companies have been threatening to leave since 1979.
52. Because the fearmongering is nonsense.
53. Because state pensions will be secure.
54. Because we can still buy into the BBC.
55. Because we can keep the pound and the monarchy – if we choose.
56. Because there will still be free movement across borders.
57. Because British citizens in Scotland will hold dual citizenship.
58. Because we’ll still be neighbours.

59. To stop getting governments we didn’t vote for.
60. To avoid being ruled by a Tory/UKIP coalition.
61. To strengthen our democracy.
62. To reshape Scottish politics.
63. To give Scottish Labour a chance to become a people’s party again.
64. To make the SNP obsolete.
65. To get away from the unelected House of Lords.
66. To get away from the direct influence of the Royal Family.
67. To have our own voice in the world.
68. To write a modern constitution.
69. To end our role as the weaker partner.
70. To stand together against the bullies at Westminster.

71. Because the UK is not OK.
72. Because for most people, we are NOT ‘better together.’
73. Because Westminster has broken many promises in the past.
74. Because the No campaign keeps telling lies.
75. Because David Cameron has changed his tune about ‘devo max.’
76. Because if we’re ‘subsidy junkies,’ why is he so desperate to keep us?
77. Because it’s not about Alex Salmond.
78. Because it’s not about nationalism.
79. Because Westminster is far away – economically & culturally.
80. Because Scotland has more pandas than Tory MPs.
81. Because we contribute more to the UK than we get back.
82. Because English budget cuts mean that amount shrinks even more.

83. Because the Union was founded for the benefit of the rich.
84. Because it’s taken them 300 years to ask the people’s opinion.
85. Because there were riots when the Union was established.
86. Because the future is uncertain, whatever we decide.
87. Because hope is stronger than fear.
88. Because the rest of the world is watching.

89. To boost tourism and the arts.
90. To get our own entry in Eurovision.
91. To build our own teams for the Olympics.
92. To hold the world’s biggest independence celebration in 2016.
93. To inspire other independence movements.
94. To be a nation again.

95. Because if smaller countries can survive and thrive, so can we.
96. Because we occupy a strategic position in the north Atlantic.
97. Because we have ample resources.
98. Because the Yes campaigns are diverse, vibrant and grassroots.
99. Because we can.
100. Because we’ll never get another chance.

Let’s make it happen.