Pete Wishart: Three little words that rocked Scottish politics

May 23 2008

BRING it on! These three little words have changed the whole political context in Scotland and have led to the almost total meltdown of Labour in Scotland. I can't even start to guess what was in Wendy Alexander's head when she launched these incendiary words, but the fallout is still reverberating around the whole body of Scottish politics.

Scottish Labour will now support a referendum on Scottish Independence and that means we are now likely to have such a referendum before the next Scottish election. By using the words "bring it on" Scotland will secure a choice in its constitutional future and it's imperative that this is dealt with properly.

A referendum on Scottish Independence will be the single most important constitutional issue the Scottish people have ever considered. It is imperative therefore that the Scottish people are properly informed and are totally engaged in the debate. That is why the Scottish Government are engaged in the National Conversation with the Scottish people and why we believe it is important that this conversation runs its course. We have therefore said that 2010 is the correct date for a referendum.

We are also still unclear exactly what Labour wants. Where Scottish Labour seem to want an early referendum, Westminster Labour seem to not want one at all. Gordon Brown has failed to back Wendy Alexander and he continues to point to the commission looking at more powers for the Scottish Parliament to conclude its work before anything is done. We therefore have to be very sceptical about what Labour's intentions are when they can't agree amongst themselves, and when only last week they held a completely contradictory position on this issue.

We also said in our manifesto that the date for a referendum would be 2010 and after being told by Labour to stick to the letter of our manifesto, they have very little credibility in asking us to break this manifesto commitment to the Scottish people. No, we will stick to our original plans and prepare responsibly and appropriately for this important referendum.

Labour should now join us in the Nation Conversation. They support remaining within the UK and I respect their position on this. We fundamentally believe that Scotland would be better off securing the powers of a normal nation. Let's have this debate in a mature grown up way and then let the people decide after proper reflection. In politics we have to trust the people. Let's now trust them with our nation's future.