The United Kingdom is teetering on the brink of dissolution; opinion polls
show that the Scottish referendum is too close to call with any certainty.
Those polls also show that half a million Scots have yet to make up their
minds. That is an unnerving statistic: the future of the country rests upon
how their indecision crystallises on Thursday, and it would only take a
fraction of that number to sway the result one way or the other. But there
are some reasons for those who treasure the Union to harbour a cautious
optimism.
The half million are disproportionately women, and throughout this campaign
women have been less willing to take seriously the Yes campaign’s
Panglossian claims about the economy in post-independence Scotland. They
worry – rightly, in our view – that the uncertainty over the currency, and a
host of other economic factors from oil to debt, will hit Scotland in
general and their household in particular. Safeguarding the future wellbeing
of their families outweighs the childish romanticism peddled by Alex
Salmond. It is to be hoped that the undecided women break the same way as
their more decisive compatriots; if they do, the Union should be safe.
If they do not, we should all worry. As Sir Malcolm Rifkind points out
elsewhere on these pages, an independent Scotland will be a weaker one
militarily, and – especially relevant, in these turbulent times – less
capable of the intelligence work so vital for counter-terrorism. That will
render the Scots more vulnerable to attack, but it will also make Scotland
an attractive back door which could allow such enemies to find their way
into England and Wales.
The risks, then, are great. And it is always unsettling to gaze into an
uncertain future. But there is reason to look ahead to Thursday with hope,
if not confidence.
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(via Telegraph)
