Referendum Comment: the opportunity of a lifetime

The future of the Scottish NHS is in your hands. Privatisation of the NHS in England continues to put increased pressure on Scotland’s ability to deliver publically funded services.

Andy Burnham , Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary for England said: “If things stay as they are, the competition framework foisted on the NHS will in the end break it up. It won’t survive five more years of this”.

Although Health is devolved to the Scottish Parliament, privatisation in England means there is an associated cut to Scotland’s funding because of the way devolution is funded.

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Independence will allow Scotland to not only have operational control of the NHS, but also financial control, ensuring we can avoid Westminster’s commercialisation of our health service.

Your pension will be safe in an Independent Scotland. The Department of Work and Pensions has confirmed that pensions will continue to be paid, just as they are now.

Pensions are also more affordable for an independent Scotland than they are for the UK, as Scotland spends a smaller proportion of its GDP on social protection.

The Scottish Government has also committed to the triple lock, ensuring that pensions have an annual rise based on inflation, wages or 2.5%, whichever is highest.

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Analysis of Scotland’s economy shows that we are the 14th wealthiest country in the world. We will be a prosperous independent country, but we also have the chance to make it a fairer country with opportunity for all.

Independence will allow us to avoid the worst of Westminster’s austerity agenda. Westminster’s welfare failures mean that over 100,000 more children in Scotland will be forced into poverty.

Scotland needs the powers of independence to ensure the most vulnerable people have the protection they deserve, and that we can prevent the disgraceful attacks by Westminster on disabled people.

Scotland should not be forced to contribute to the £100bn cost of replacing nuclear weapons on the Clyde.

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Over the next 10 years Scottish taxpayers will pay over £1 billion towards nuclear weapons: this money could deliver 3,300 nurses or 2,700 teachers. By investing a small percentage of those costs, we could create many more jobs that have a tangible benefit to society.

The people best placed to make decisions about Scotland’s future, are the people who care most about Scotland, the people who live here.

Independence will always deliver a government that Scotland voted for and we will never again have Tory Government’s imposed on us without a mandate from the Scottish people.

This is our time, our moment to create a fairer and more prosperous society – Vote Yes and ensure that we grab this opportunity with both hands.