On the Scottish Independence referendum a year from today:

"The nationalists only need to win once, and even then, by only a single vote, to bring to an end the most successful democratic and political union the world has ever seen."

(Alistair Darling on the Scottish Independence Referendum, as quoted in a Telegraph article by Tom Harris MP which you can read here.)

Comments

Jim said…
unlike the Irish on the lisbon treaty, they voted once, but apparently they chose the wrong answer, so following a huge propaganda effort had to vote again.
6:23 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
Yes, I think we need to avoid the "Vote on it again until you get it right" syndrome.
7:30 pm
Anonymous said…
Isn't this what you're doing with MRWS?
11:46 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
Don't know what you mean by "you" in that sentence, but the government has to decide what to do with the existing waste.

The government is not proposing to make Cumbria County Council vote on it again: they are launching a new process which will require consent at district level and which will give a fresh oportunity for communities anywhere in the country who are willing to consider a bid to host a repository to do so.
8:31 am
Chris Whiteside said…
If there was some sort of magic wand which could make the nuclear waste disappear I am sure someone would have waved it.

In the absence of such a magic wand we have 200 tons of plutonium oxide and many tons of other nuclear waste which is already right here in Copeland and any responsible government has to keep looking for the best long term solution to deal with that waste until an agreed way forward is found.

Trying to find an answer to a question like "what do you do with the nuclear waste" for which we have no option but to find an answer is absolutely not the same thing as making people vote again on issues such as EU membership, signing a treaty, or independence, which you can simply drop if you get a "No."
8:38 am
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