The political elite in London have woken up to the possibility of Scotland voting for independence from the Union.  The whole thing has not exactly sprung up unannounced:  the referendum had been agreed a while back. However, no one took the likelihood of a Yes vote seriously, and hence not much attention was paid to the matter - until recently that is.

You see, when the political establishment ignores a whole section of its population for long enough, it occasionally happens that poetic justice is served and that they get a massive kick in the ass. Which is exactly what happened in the UK last week when the latest poll showed that the pro-independence  camp was ahead of the pro-union campaign.  The coalition leaders David Cameron and Nick Clegg, as well as Labour opposition leader Ed Miliband, scrambled around in a panic and scampered off to Edinburgh to show that they had really cared about the Scots all along. They carried a hastily put-together list of empty promises and  sudden benefits for Scotland, provided the latter votes for staying within the UK. Aaah politicians, they’re really the same all over the world aren’t they?

The reasons behind Scotland’s independence push are complex and won’t fit into a neat paragraph here. But in a nutshell, Scotland has always traditionally voted Labour (i.e. socialist, pro-welfare state and, in principle, looking after the poor/working class – I am tempted to say: not to be confused with our Labour party here in Mauritius), but it has been lumbered by a Conservative  or coalition government who seems intent on following a  socio-economic model more closely associated with the Republicans in the US: let the rich get richer, and if the poor fall behind it’s their own fault for not working hard enough.  Many Scots are fed up, and it will be interesting to see what happens after the referendum this week. Even in the event of a No vote, sufficient  momentum has built to rattle the UK government into giving greater autonomy to Scotland, and generally to stop taking it for granted: a pretty good result in itself.  The process has also galvanised a whole nation, with unprecedented levels of engagement and political debate: 97% participation is expected in the upcoming referendum. It just goes to show how active a population can be in shaping the political landscape when faced with the opportunity to have a tangible impact on its future.

I am getting quite carried away by all this excitement myself to be honest.  Anyone up for building an independence campaign here in Mauritius? I realise it will be difficult to pinpoint an exact geographic area, but what about a referendum for “stop taking us for a ride”?  We could vote to remove the current crop of veterans we have at the top (I know it will be hard, they’ve all calcified there since 1968), stick them in a waterproof box and throw them in the ocean.  I should hastily add that I am very non-partisan about this: I think the three mainstream parties are all as bad as each other, whether they are in power one day or in the opposition the next. They are so busy sleeping with each other, then breaking up, then getting back together again to fill their pockets, it’s a wonder they don’t all have some kind of STD. 

Or, as a last resort I say we get rid of elections altogether and let the three protagonists play musical chairs ad infinitum to win the prime minister’s seat. It would save us all a load of hassle and money (with the same end-result), and we could play the whole thing on loop on MBC to keep us entertained for years to come.  Hurray!