Stuart Waiton: We can’t be trusted on alcohol, fags or food, so deciding about independence must be beyond us

There are two depressing ironies about the independence issue. The first is that the SNP may talk about national independence but has no idea what individual independence means.

The second is that despite all the witter about “progressive Scotland” compared to, I assume, reactionary England, you could fit a fag paper between the patronising political parties north and south of the Border.

Past struggles for national independence were built upon and by robust human subjects who wanted to run their own affairs. Today the debate about independence is carried out among the aloof political class with little or no enthusiasm or even interest amongst the people of Scotland.

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Last week, the Tories in England followed the SNP’s lead in proposing a price hike on alcohol. Clearly the English, like the Scots, cannot be trusted to make their own decisions about how much they drink. Up here the Tories have joined the Liberal Democrats in changing their opinion about the price rise and now support the Scottish Government, while Labour continue with their opportunistic opposition in their desperate attempt to look like a political alternative.

Indeed Labour’s “alternative” follows the patronising trend of the day, with a proposal to ban alcohol advertising in public places. Like cigarettes, soon to be hidden under the counter like porn mags, we clearly are incapable of seeing images of booze without mindlessly going on a binge. Then we get the moronic message from the government that burgers and other “fatty foods” could be banned from TV ads before 9pm: clearly we are incapable of regulating our children’s fancy for incorrect cuisine without their support.

In the last decade or so the whole of the UK has shifted towards the “politics of behaviour”. No longer, it seems, does politics involve a battle of ideas, a battle for our hearts and minds. Instead we are increasingly having our behaviour managed and the relationship of politicians with the public has shifted to one resembling a burned-out teacher whose sole preoccupation is with regulation of our most basic desires and everyday activities. We are no longer collectively inspired but are “nudged” here and there by politicians who prey on our individuated anxieties about all things to do with our health and safety.

However, if we can’t be trusted to decide how much we want to drink, or with the sight of fag packets in a newsagent, with feeding our kids, what can we be trusted with?

With all these measures that treat us like children rather than mature adults, it is hard to figure out what type of independence the SNP is actually talking about. It is certainly not one built on anything resembling liberal principles or even notions of free will.

• Dr Stuart Waiton is a lecturer at Abertay University and founder of free-speech lobby group Take a Liberty (Scotland)