Second chance

The vote on 18 September is to determine whether or not Scotland should be an independent country. If there is majority for Yes, then that’s all we’ll know: that Scotland should be independent of the UK (not “will”, “should”, a conditional tense).

But we don’t know anything else. The multitude of questions raised during the campaign lack answers, with the result that we would not know what sort of country Scotland would be.

No one would sign an agreement without knowing the terms and conditions of that agreement.

In this case, a Yes vote would initiate delicate and probably difficult negotiations on those terms and conditions.

Once those are known, including the currency and the proportion of Scotland’s inherited debt, then Scots would know what shape the new country would be.

It would only be fair at that point to call another referendum to ask Scots whether or not they agree to those terms. Why has no provision been made for this second referendum?

Steuart Campbell

Dovecot Loan

Edinburgh