17.9.14
The case for Europe
Readers of this list will know that I don't always see eye-to-eye with Alex Salmond.
Nonetheless, I think he put the case for Europe well this morning on the Today Program.
In a BBC interview just the other night, a spanish minister being
interviewed by Kirsty Wark despite being invited three or four times
refused to say that Spain would attempt to veto Scottish
membership. And the reason for that of course is that the Spanish
government have already said that in the circumstance of a consented
democratic referendum, as they put it, Spain would have nothing to say
about it.
We can go through legal opinion and expert opinion as much as we like.
I think the answer is in four figures: 1, 20, 25, and 60.
1% is the percentage of Scotland's population compared to the European Union.
20% is the percentage of the fish stocks of the entire European Union.
25% is the percentage of the renewable energy of the entire European Union offshore.
And 60% is the oil reserves that Scotland has.
Anyone who believes that a country [with these resources] is not
going to be welcome in the wider Europe doesn't understand the process
by which Europe accepts democratic results and that Scotland has a
huge amount of attractiveness to the rest of the European continent.
You can hear the original here, the relevant segment starts at around 8:00.
Labels: Independence, Scotland, Yes!
