The message being delivered by First Minister Alex Salmond in his blueprint for Scottish independence is as much about what sort of Scotland voters want, as it is about whether London or Edinburgh rules it. To capture political ground beyond the one third support which polls suggest independence can now muster – a task the Guardian described as "a full set of electoral Munros to climb" – the Scottish National Party's new white paper is pitching an argument squarely at Labour's traditionally unionist supporters: "Vote Yes for a social democratic, caring Scotland". It is notably strong on protecting welfare and on the case for radical childcare reform.
“For 34 of the last 68 years,” the paper argues, “Scotland has been ruled by governments that were rejected at the ballot box in Scotland.” Tory governments – Scotland remains almost a no-go area for the party. But the implication that next year’s referendum would be unnecessary had Labour been in power is, unsurprisingly, not articulated by the SNP.
That outreach to the as-yet unconvinced and undecided (a quarter of voters ) has led the party to make detailed promises - in many cases aspirational – that an independent Scotland would retain the monarchy, stay in Nato, share military bases with the UK, turn a blind eye to visiting nuclear-armed ships, stay in the EU, but eschew the euro for a currency union with what remains of the UK...
Tory Chancellor George Osborne points out that the decision to retain sterling would not be in the SNP’s gift and that the Bank of England/UK government is likely to oppose it. And Labour has argued that giving London the power to vet budgets, a requirement of a genuine currency union, is tantamount to abandoning all vestiges of economic sovereignty. Not true, a certain euro member might protest from this side of the Irish Sea.
There’s plenty of meat here for a lively nine-month campaign. And the SNP has come out guns blazing, with Salmond’s typically boundless optimism.