Essay:Too small, too poor, too stupid

Too small, too poor, too stupid, sometimes too wee, too poor, too stupid, or variations thereof, is an unattributed phrase that has become a meme that arose in connection with the debate about Scotland rescinding from the political Union with England that formed the United Kingdom.

On its face, it looks like it was actually first stated, not by a unionist, but by John Swinney in 2001. "They are terrified of the idea that the lives of millions of Scots would be improved if control of Scottish resources were in Scottish hands, and that is why they will always run down the Scots - why they will always say we are too stupid and too poor to be trusted to run the affairs of our own country."

Although unionists have never actually used the phrase too small, too poor, too stupid in its entirety, nationalists assert that the individual sentiments contained therein are re-occurring elements in many unionist arguments against Scottish independence. As the phrase was apparently invented by Scottish nationalists as a derogatory description of their opponents' position - and as it is used almost exclusively by nationalists - it is arguably an attempt to straw man the unionist position.

Too small

Unionists have never claimed that Scotland is "too small" to flourish as an independent country but have commented on the perceived disadvantages that Scotland may face as a small independent country, such as a diminished influence on the international stage. However, many other small European countries are thriving, some better than others (eight of the twenty-seven EU member states have smaller populations than Scotland). It would seem that size doesn’t always matter; as Winston Churchill once observed, "Of all the small nations of this earth, perhaps only the ancient Greeks surpass the Scots in their contribution to mankind." Unionists have commented that if Scotland were to become independent, the Scots, in terms of EU clout, would still be surpassed by the Greeks.

Nationalists argue that, as an independent EU country, Scotland would 'have a seat at the table' and be able to wield influence by forging alliances on issues of mutual interest. Unionists, however, argue that an independent Scotland would not automatically be a member of the EU and would have to apply to join. British government sources have claimed that Spain would veto Scotland joining the EU. Spain's foreign minister let it be known that was not the case. Ultimately, Scotland's continued membership in the EU is more than likely simply an administrative formality. Eamonn Gallagher, former Director General of the European Commission and EC Ambassador to the UN in New York, stated that both Scotland and the remainder of the United Kingdom would be successor states to the former United Kingdom: "they would have equal status with each other and the other states. The remainder of the United Kingdom would not be in a more powerful position than Scotland." When the EU President, Jose Manuel Barroso, expressed an opinion on the status of an independent Scotland and the EU it was described as "significant" by the Prime Minister. However, when Mr Barroso commented on UKIP and euroscepticism in the Conservative party the Prime Minister accused him of "lecturing" his party. The proposed referendum on UK membership of the EU may in fact pose a bigger threat to Scotland's continued EU membership than independence.

Unionists, believing that Scotland would have to apply to join the EU, also claim that Scotland would be forced to adopt the Euro and others claim that Scotland would have to join the EU's borderless Schengen area resulting in mass immigration and border controls between England and Scotland. Meanwhile the British Government agreed to single visa for travel to both the United Kingdom and the former United Kingdom territory, the Republic of Ireland. Nevertheless, if Scotland did have to join the EU as a new member, Scotland would only have to agree to a commitment to adopt the euro in due course by fulfilling the convergence criterion, part of which is joining the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II), which is voluntary. Sweden has not volunteered to join ERM II so cannot be forced to join the Euro. Furthermore, other unionists have indicated that Britain will have to join the Euro anyway. As a successor state to the UK, Scotland would not be subject to the EU Schengen agreement and would instead inherit the borderless Common Travel Area which already exists across the UK and Ireland.

If Scotland doesn't have to adopt the Euro, unionists make it clear that Scotland can't keep the pound or print its own pound notes. Scotland will also lose its pandas. The current £3.5 billion of Scottish notes in circulation are backed by ring-fenced assets held in the Bank of England that would then have to be returned to the Scottish banks as Sterling. Scotland could of course simply use the pound. Many countries do not have their own currency and use someone else's; the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey are separate countries from the U.K. but still use the pound. Alternatively, Scotland could reintroduce the Pound Scots and peg it one-to-one with Sterling. Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates have pegged their currencies to the US Dollar, and other countries, especially in Europe and Africa, peg their currencies to the Euro. After independence from the UK in 1922, Ireland retained Sterling then, in 1928, introduced the Irish Punt pegged with Sterling. An exchange rate was eventually introduced in 1979 and continued until Ireland adopted the Euro in 1999 (Euro currency was introduced in 2002). Ultimately, Scotland would be able to retain sterling as its currency as confirmed by the former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England Sir John Gieve. The pandas reside at Edinburgh zoo due to an agreement between the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Organisation. There are more pandas in Scotland than Conservative Members of Parliament.

Unionists claim that the defence capabilities of an independent Scotland would be less comprehensive and effective than as part of the UK making Scotland more vulnerable to terrorist and cyber attack, as Scotland would have to establish entirely new armed forces from scratch. Others claim that an independent Scotland would not even be able to defend itself and would not be guaranteed access to crucial intelligence on terrorism and organised crime from the UK and other states. The defence effectiveness argument assumes an independent Scotland would need armed forces capable of invading foreign countries such as Iraq rather than adopting a defence strategy that empasises humanitarian aid and global peacekeeping similar to those of other small NATO countries. The claim that Scotland would have to establish entirely new armed forces from scratch assumes that an independent Scotland would not inherit any of the UK's current assets but nevertheless be expected to accept a share of current UK liabilities such as the national debt. Currently the UK is unable to defend Scotland and requires assistance form other NATO countries to do so. The current trend is towards greater international intelligence co-operation rather than less and the former counter-terrorism co-ordinator with the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland has stated that in his experience "an excellent Scottish intelligence organisation could be developed in an independent country". It is also suggested that an independent Scotland would not be allowed to join NATO if it did not allow the UK's nuclear weapons to remain in Scotland. However, NATO has an open-door policy for "all European democracies which share the values of our Alliance, which are willing and able to assume the responsibilities and obligations of membership, and whose inclusion can contribute to common security and stability." Furthermore, NATO also allows for nations to opt out of the nuclear sharing process. Regardless of the defence strategy adopted by an independent Scotland, the life Peer Lord Fraser of Carmyllie has warned that an Independent Scotland could become a warzone "asking to be invaded". Consequently England would "have but to come and bomb the hell out of Glasgow airport and Edinburgh airport". However, other small countries such as Monaco, Andorra and Liechtenstein have not yet suffered the same fate.

Too poor

Cover of the Economist April 14-20, 2012
According to the UK Government Scots would each be £1 a year worse off.

Unioinists have never claimed that Scotland is "too poor" to finance itself as an independent country and have in fact stated the opposite. Unionists have, however, suggested that the Scots depend on subsidies from England . That is based on the assumption that the Scots receive higher public spending per head than in England. That then enables the Scots to enjoy goodies such as Council tax freezes, free prescriptions, subsidised public transport for pensioners, free personal care for the elderly and no tuition fees for Scottish students. Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, claimed that only 12% of Scottish households make a net contribution to the Scottish economy, a percentage nearly as high as the Conservative vote in Scotland. Less North Sea taxes, tax revenues per capita in Scotland are similar to those for the UK as a whole, nevertheless, public spending per head is about £1,200 a year higher in Scotland than in the UK as a whole. That identifiable public spending in Scotland is allocated on the basis of the Barnett Formula which is allocated to the Scottish Government as a block grant. Comparisons of identifiable public spending between Scotland and the UK as a whole do not include the non-identifiable expenditure which includes the likes of defence, foreign office services, research and development, and the institutions of the British state. However, 2012 figures showed that with 8.4 per cent of the UK population, Scotland contributed 9.4 per cent of UK taxes. Thus the net contribution to the economy by Scottish households is much the same as that made by English households. Those comparisons of identifiable public spending, which omit non-identifiable expenditure such as defence or allocate it on a per capita basis, do not measure where the spending actually occurs, nor of any benefit arising from employment, incomes and so on, much of which occur in southern England. After Northern Ireland and before Scotland, the highest identifiable public spending per capita is in London, where many of the benefits of non-identifiable expenditure accrue. As the identifiable public spending in Scotland is allocated on the basis of the Barnett Formula which is allocated to the Scottish Government as a block grant, the Scottish Government then has to decide how to spend it. The goodies such as council tax freezes, free prescriptions and no tuition fees for Scottish students are all paid for by economies and cuts in other areas.

The figures for oil related revenues are often disputed by both sides of the debate. However, in 1999 the Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order changed the sea border between Scotland and England. Condemned by Some Scottish nationalist, those changes brought the sea border more into line with what is normal international practice. No matter the exact border, it is clear that, in the past, oil generated a lot of revenues. It would seem that plenty more may follow. It has also been suggested that Shetland and Orkney, with their substantial oil wealth, may choose not to be part of an independent Scotland. However, under international maritime law, when an island belonging to one state sits on the continental shelf of another state, the islands are treated as enclaves. Therefore most of the rights to the continental shelf would remain Scottish. The small zone around the islands, and the waters between Orkney and Shetland contains no oil fields.

Nevertheless, unionists argue that Scotland's dependence on the UK is inevitable because of Scotland's share of the national debt and the cost of the banking crisis which led to the 'Scottish banks' being bailed-out. Unionists put Scotland's share of the UK national debt at about £140billion. However, based on population, it would more likely be about £80 billion. A figure that would enable Scotland to maintain a triple A credit rating. Unionists argue that only the Union can guarantee a triple A credit rating for Scotland, but the Union apparently cannot guarantee that for the United Kingdom. However, if the argument that an independent Scotland would not automatically be a member of the EU because it is not a successor state to the UK is true. Then by not being a succesor State, an independent Scotland would not be liable for any of the UK national debt. The 'Scottish banks', are in fact multinational corporations whose UK trading activities occur mostly in the City of London and are regulated from London. Under international convention, when banks which operate in more than one country get into trouble, the bailout is shared in proportion to the area of activities of those banks. In this case about ten percent would fall on Scotland. In light of the the banking crisis, the UK Scottish secretary Jim Murphy, referred to the small countries Iceland, Ireland and Norway as the "arc of insolvency", however, the 2013 Legatum Prosperity Index ranked Iceland, Ireland and Norway above the UK. Those counties having a GDP per capita greater than the UK.

Unionists also argue that Scotland would have to pay compensation to the Ministry of Defence for the removal of the nuclear weapons submarine naval base from Faslane. However, the nations that became independent from Russia in the 1990s did not foot the bill for the removal of Russian nuclear and other weapons facilities. Ultimately Scotland is more than capable of financing itself despite attempts to disprove that.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said UK embassies would not promote Scotch Whisky for free if Scotland became independent. However, when Scottish Development International holds receptions promoting Scotch Whisky in UK embassies, they are currently charged up to £3000 a time. When UK trade and investment hold receptions in UK embassies they are charged nothing at all. Unionists have also claimed that the uncertainty about the date of an independence referendum is affecting investment in Scotland. However, there seems to be little evidence for that. A recent Ernst & Young report described Scotland as the top UK destination for inward investment.

Too stupid

Cover of Scotland On Sunday supplement April 07, 2013
“Today, the ruling party of Scotland has nationalism as its creed and is suspiciously coy about its own history. Elsewhere in the nationalist family, the BNP, before it plunged into fratricidal warfare, trounced the Far Left in recent Scottish elections and, in 2010, received a respectable 1,000 votes in Alex Salmond’s stamping ground of Banff and Buchan. To this should be added growing sympathy for the agenda of Ukip. The Scottish electorate now appears more receptive to radical nationalism than Mosley’s blackshirts could ever dream of.” Note the reductio ad Hitlerum and bad Gaelic grammar. "Klan" na h-Alba would be the proper form.

Unionists have never claimed that the Scots are "too stupid" to manage an independent Scotland themselves. However, unionists often feel that it is better to manage things from Westminster. UK prime minister David Cameron thought it better that an independence referendum in Scotland should be organised by his government in London rather than by the Scots. Others thought that's just not cricket. Nevertheless, David Cameron says that independence "is a matter for the Scots to discuss and decide"; however, his UK Government is not shy about interfering, for example asking foreign governments, foreign media and big business to help undermine the case for independence along with numerous UK Parliament committees and reports designed to persuade the Scots that independence will be bad for them.

In all fairness, there are apparently Scots who are more than capable of "stupid". The English born Scottish Labour Party Peer Lord Foulkes claimed that a second option on any independence ballot, such as increased powers for the Scottish Parliament as proposed by Civic Scotland, would confuse the Scottish electorate. The Scottish Labour Party leader, Johann Lamont, stated that "we're not genetically programmed in Scotland to make political decisions", a clumsy attempt to say that a Scottish government would not automatically make better decisions than a UK government. The former leader, Iain Gray, has described Alex Salmond's pursuit of Scottish independence as "daft, deluded, deranged and downright dangerous". A fellow Scottish Labour MP has invoked Godwin's Law, and the Scottish Liberal Democrat MP Alan Reid has compared him to Joseph Stalin. The Ulster-Scot Lord Empey, leader of the Ulster Unionists from 2005 to 2010, has compared Alex Salmond to the leaders of North Korea and Cuba. Building on that meme, Lord Robertson, the former Labour Defence Secretary, has suggested that Scottish independence would boost the forces of darkness. However, at least four Englishmen have shown they are capable of stupid, Jeremy Paxman, by comparing Alex Salmond to Robert Mugabe and the Labour Party leader, Ed Miliband, by claiming that Scots will not be British if they vote for independence oblivious to that fact that Scots are British due to their being inhabitants of the island of Great Britain. The Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham even went so far as to claim that if Scotland became independent Scots may have to drive on the right and show ID at the border (though admittedly, switching to the right side of the road might be an improvement). However, not to be outdone by the Labour Party, the Conservative Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, declared that a separate Scotland would be more vulnerable to threats from space.

Scottish Labour MP Ian Davidson invoked Gibson's Law by claiming that Scots celebrate the battle of Bannockburn because hundreds of thousands of English people were murdered. Davidson, deciding that the independence debate is now over, suggested that "a large number of wounded [nationalists] still [had] to be bayoneted". However, the English army at Bannockburn only numbered tens of thousands. Ian Davidson has not let it be known whether or not the British Government's planned celebrations of the centenary of World War I is because millions of Germans were murdered. Some find it odd to celebrate the beginning of the bloody slaughter rather than the end of it. That the centenary of the beginning of WWI and the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn fall in 2014, the year of the referendum on Scottish independence, is of course purely coincidental.

Alex Salmond has not only been compared to the world's past and present dictators, but has also been accused of being a bare-faced liar regarding EU legal advice. The accusations, however, proved groundless.

Labour MP Cathie Jamieson suggested that Alex Salmond should submit the SNP's welfare and pension proposals to the Office of Budget Responsibility for an independent audit. Previously, the Labour Shadow chancellor Ed Balls had written to the Office of Budget Responsibility asking it to vet the Labour manifesto. Unfortunately that was outside the BRO remit. However, the credibility of the organization has been called into question by the former Labour chancellor (of banking crisis fame), Alistair Darling, the leader of Better Together. Mr Darling has also claimed that an Institute for Fiscal Studies report predicting 50 years into the future left the economic case for Scottish independence in tatters. However, the Labour party had previously dismissed an IFS report on its budget plans on the grounds that it is not possible to accept the assumptions being offered by the IFS because of the time period of the prediction - in that case seven years into the future.

In 2011, while Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore was claiming that the idea of an independent Scotland continuing as a member of the EU was "quite fanciful". Two years later, after being sacked, Michael Moore let it be known that he thought that "the EU had a proud record in Europe in recent times of expanding its borders and including people in".

Since the Union Scotland has had a separate legal system. However, English judges may refer cases to the recently established UK Supreme Court but Scottish Judges may not. Lord Hamilton, the Lord President of the Court of Session and head of the judiciary in Scotland, requested that Scottish judges be given the same powers as English ones, but that was rejected by the British Government. The Scottish Queen's Counsel Paul McBride described the situation as one where "we have English judges who can be trusted and Scottish ones who can't." Scottish Judges can, as a result, be overruled by judges in England. As the Scots cannot be trusted, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, suggested that other countries would not be willing to share sensitive information on terrorism and organised crime with an independent Scotland.

Scotland's First Minister (sort of Prime Minister), Alex Salmond, was invited to be a guest, commenting only about rugby, on the BBC radio panel for the Six Nations rugby match between England and Scotland. However, when BBC bosses in London got wind of it he was barred because the BBC's political impartiality was being breached—with Scottish local elections occurring 3 months later. The First Minister's comments about rugby may otherwise have unfairly influenced the result. Normally political impartiality is adhered to six weeks before an election. However, only days later, David Cameron was free to comment on BBC radio about football and the resignation of the England manager—with English local elections occurring 3 months later.

After the Edinburgh Agreement of October 2012 was finalised, MSM concensus was that David Cameron got his way regarding the referendum, in particular regarding a second question for more devolution. However, the referendum consultation only entertained the possibility of a second question if those supporting it could define what that would entail, and that never materialised. Alex Salmond had previously made it clear that "it's not up to us [the SNP] to define devolution max. We support independence..." so the Scottish government appears to have got everything they wanted: a legally watertight referendum, votes for 16- and 17-year-olds, control of how much money each side may spend on their referendum campaign, control of the date and the referendum question itself.

However, David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, is keen to tell Scottish audiences that "Britain works” and asks “why break it?" but tells English audiences that "Britain is Broken" (he'll fix it).

The Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has claimed that Scots would not be able to watch the BBC series Doctor Who if Scotland became independent. However, Doctor Who has been shown in 75 countries across the world from Angola to Venezuela.

The former Labour First Minister, and unionist, Henry McLeish has said that the anti-independence campaign Better Together was "treating Scots like idiots".

External Sites

• Yes Scotland: The campaign for an independent Scotland.
• Better Together: A 2011 Scottish National Health Service initiative to improve the patient experience focus.
• Better Together (AKA Project Fear): Nothing to do with the above but a patriotic all-party and non-party campaign for Scotland in the UK.
• British Unity: A well organised group dedicated to supporting Scotland's place within the United Kingdom.
• Vote No Borders (not the No Borders Network): A pro-dependency non-party political grass roots campaign registered at 24 Chiswell Street, London and funded by the Conservative party donor Malcolm Offord aided by fellow director Fiona Gilmore, chief executive the PR Consultany Acanchi of 24 Chiswell Street, London, which specializes in Country Branding. The website domain was registered by Gary Waple of the Prudential Regulatory Authority of the Bank of England.
• Scottish Labour: A pro-dependency party.
• Labour for Independence: Some of the above who reject dependency culture.
• Scottish Liberal Democrats: A pro-"more home rule" party.
• Scottish Greens: Not 'neeps an kail' but a fringe party who like independent trees and windmills.
• Scottish Conservatives: Another fringe party led by a right-wing LGBT campaigner.
• Scottish National Party: Generally treated as a loonatic fringe party by the media and most other political parties, they managed to secure a majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament despite the electoral system being specifically designed to stop that happening. Very pro-indpendence.
• The Herald and the Scotsman: Pro-dependency Scottish MSM broadsheets. On May 04 2014 the Sunday Herald went native.
• Newsnet Scotland: Web based Scottish news site. Very much an SNP echo chamber.
• Scottish Television: Delivering independent (but not pro-independence) television to Scotland. (Except the South of Scotland which gets its local independent television from the north of England.)
• BBC Scotlandshire, not to be confused with BBC Scotland: A much loved institution of the British State.
• BARD 2014: A group well impressed with the BBC's role as a bastion of the British State.
• National Collective: An arty-farty take on independence.
• Business for Scotland: Are they only in it for the money?
• The Jimmy Reid Foundation: In memory of the umwhile communist, socialist and nationalist.
• Radical Independence Campaign: A motley crew of Greens, Socialists, militant trade unionists, nuclear-disarmament campaigners and anti-monarchist republicans.