Scottish independence: Alex Salmond outlines global role vision
The SNP have tabled a "devo plus" option for the ballot paper. Picture: Jane Barlow
AN INDEPENDENT Scotland would be a “good world citizen”, according to First Minister Alex Salmond.
Speaking in an interview with Sir David Frost for Al Jazeera, Mr Salmond outlined how Scotland would fulfil its international responsibilities in areas like defence, overseas aid and technology transfer.
Mr Salmond said: “We’ll continue to be the best of neighbours, the best of friends with all of the other countries in these islands, but we’re also determined to be good world citizens.
“We want to be fully participating in the European Union and in the international community.
“With independence, Scotland gets a prosperous economy and a just society and the ability to determine our own future.”
On defence, the First Minister said they would be “attuned” to the needs of the country and Scotland would co-operate with allies across the world.
He added: “We would be happy and willing to take part in international operations if sanctioned by the United Nations.
“One of the ambitions we have is to see Scotland as a good world citizen, a country not prepared to sanction or to endorse illegal conflicts like the war in Iraq, but a country, of course, willing to help in UN sanctions, operations, to lend a helping hand.
“Not just in military or in peacekeeping operations, but also in terms of our international obligations of aid policy and technology transfer - which perhaps above all is where Scotland can make a good contribution to this planet as a good world citizen.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: “I am sure Scotland would be a good world citizen, that should not surprise anyone.
“The real question is whether a separate Scotland would have anything like the influence Scotland has as part of the United Kingdom family.”
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Comments
There are 118 comments to this article
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Anagach
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 07:20 AM114 The Tin Man may well be accused of being traitors, ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "may well be"...not actually... hum I guess that is making it up.
derekafarmer
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 04:28 AMWe're all sick of the SNP grandstanding. The main issue for Scottish voters is not the grand vision and international pipe dreams of SNP delusion. It is the question of DOMESTIC issues and finances that will affect all Scottish people, rich or poor. And the SNP refuses to deal with this most basic of questions. Omission is as great a sin as lying, and SNP Ministers are very obviously severely lacking in competent control of detail. Everyone should be very concerned about that.
Danielrober2
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 08:01 PM# 110 frank mcbride ................... You cannot replace detailed governmental procedures with speeches. Gosh it would be great if you could but you cannot. Other countries will just look at you and say nice speech, now lets see the legal documentation. As a FEDERALIST, not separatist or unionist I believe is good governance as directed by negotiation, rules and laws. .................. There gets to a pint where we just want to see the instruction manual. Your increasing duel party tag team looks silly, when compared to the details produced by parties in other countries. Aims, Aspiration and Hopes need to be backed up by hard work, detailed work and long hours of negotiation. You must at this stage of 5 year in devolved government, have a basic 1000 page booklet on your parties intensions covering data, information, methodology and conclusions. ................... The continued delays, making everyone frustrated including myself is not a dignified way in which to govern Scotland or deal with other nations, unless your intention is to be Isolationist.
Anagach
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 06:25 PM109 Vote 'NO' When will this man spell out to all and sundry what separation will cost financially, &c, broken down to every groat? I mean, what is he afraid of? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Devolution costs are hard to estimate since the Treasury did not account the adminstration of Scotland pre-devolution in any accurate form, and continues to roll a lot of costs and revenue into 'UK' wide allocations rather than by country breakdowns.
The Tin Man
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 05:19 PM110 frank mcbride: But, even more disturbingly, any parliamentarian who questions the policy of creating a state police force, and abandoning all local policing, may well be accused of being traitors, by the government. It would be nice if I was making this up, by this is for real.
The Tin Man
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 05:17 PM110 frank mcbride: None on the documents and policies you have mentioned have any meaning when His Alexness is busy making up policy on the hoof on matters of some importance, such as currency. Furthermore, you would be foolish to believe anything He says, anyway. For a concrete example, use the local income tax, which has transpired to be a load of complete lies, and the reorganisation of local taxation has subsequently disappeared, to be replaced by wonders of liberal thinking, like creating a state police force. Unlike the LIT, the state police force really will happen, and it will happen next year, and not a single SNP MSPS will vote against it. That begs the question of why Nats rile so against His Alexness being called a dictator.
Desert Rat
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 01:29 PM99 # Huntly Loon - I think your view is more than a little simplistic. The biggest single motivator behind the Act of Union - and this is really what we are talking about here - is commercial. Scotland's merchants could not compete against the English navy and were effectively barred from trading in the English controlled colonies, America, West Indies and the Indian Subcontinent. That meant that we did not have access to the resources there, cotton, tobacco, sugar, many of the spices, etc. To gain this access we united the Parliaments and launched ourselves into a very profitable trading area when Glasgow became the second city thanks to its port and the industrial base that was developing. The same question is there today, can Scotland better develop and grow its economy on the coat-tails of England, or would we be better off forging or own access to the global markets. I personally have no idea as I have not heard a convincing arguement one way or the other so far.
frank mcbride
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 12:20 PM109Vote 'NO' Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 11:50 AM................." Breaking News. Salmond speaks but actually says nothing. When will this man spell out to all and sundry what separation will cost financially, &c, broken down to every groat? I mean, what is he afraid of?"............................................You seem to be getting a little hysterical................................As a suggestion to help you calm down, I would suggest that you address your concern to George Osborne, Alastair Darling or Gordon Brown who have a track record on "financial costs"............................Perhaps, though, given your concern for accurate figures, you would be better to consult with "Mystic Meg" or, perhaps, "The Seer of Falkirk", both of whom are known to be more accurate in their predictions than the Westminster Chancellors,
frank mcbride
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 12:11 PMDanielrober...........................You seem to be somewhat peturbed about the prospects of an Inependent Scotland, yet are content about the prospects of a continuing Union...............May we ask why?...................................................Your argument seems to be that the SNP, SDA and the Greens have no plan for the future governance of Scotland, nor do they have any plans for the economic regeneration of Scotland or for its future relationships with the rest of the International Community...................Have I got it right?......................................If so, can I refer you to the FM's address at the LSE in which he makes clear the SNP's view regarding Scotland's economic future........................Can I refer you to the SNP's Draft Constitution for an Independent Scotland.................Can I, further, refer you to the SNP policies on defence and International relations..............................You can also access the SDA's proposals easily.........................However, you pose many relevant questions, it's just a pity that you are not prepared to hear, or to seek out the answers....................Your argument, Daniel, is, unfortunately, typical of the Unionist supporters.........................You are only too willing to ask the questions that need to be, and have been answered by the Independence side whilst refusing to ask the same questions of the Unionist side.......................which has steadfastly refused to make any enlightening comment on the future governance of Scotland within the Uk.........................make clear its position on future workings with the rest of the International Comminity................or, and probably most important, stated any clear vision of its plan to reindustrialise the UK, never mind just Scotland......................................The SNP's vision, or that of the SDA may not be to your liking, but, at least it can be accessed ................Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the Unionist position, a position of which we know nothing.
Vote 'NO'
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 11:50 AMBreaking News. Salmond speaks but actually says nothing. When will this man spell out to all and sundry what separation will cost financially, &c, broken down to every groat? I mean, what is he afraid of?
easyzone
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 11:12 AMAh , so the plan is to is to gain full independence ......................................................by foul means or fair ?
The Tin Man
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 10:31 AM98 famous15: it took you two post to go from calling unionists 'misguided' to calling 70% of the population 'stupid'. Back on the planet Earth, stupidity is probably very evenly distributed between nats and unionists.
Danielrober2
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 10:10 AM# 105 Huntly Loon ....................... Wow. So according to SNP doctrine this month or is it this week, decades of effort by NATO meant nothing. Hmmmm.
Huntly Loon
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 08:57 AMDanielrober2. You will find that NATO played no part in the collapse of totalitarian Communist rule in eastern Europe. The citizens brought it about through their own actions. It was Hungary removing its border controls with Austria in august 1989 and thus allowing 13000 East German tourists to get to West Germany by the back door that set off a chain of events that led to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, and concluding with the overthrow of Ceaucescu in Romania by Christmas 1989. NATO stood back and did not intervene at all. Only when the Soviet Union collapsed along with the Warsaw Pact did NATO start to flex its muscle in Kosovo. NATO was fine once it did not have a serious enemy to deal with. Serbia was hardly the USSR. NATO is a defence pact and chooses its conflicts carefully. It only engages where its opponents are weak and it can complete its task with the minimum of cost. It will not intervene in Syria or Iran. The stakes are far too high.
Phearran
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 08:32 AMRe: 72 Simon Said ------ Part of the reason the Swiss banking was made how it is was to protect German Jews from the Nazis, allowing them to store their money anonymously, who had just come to power. Not quite the Nazi-collaborating nation you portrayed it as.
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