Anne McLaughlin: Time to tackle the myths about Scottish independence

Because how else can you know that our desire for independence is entirely positive? And who else is going to tell you that we consider you to be our closest allies and our dearest friends and we always will?

I can see why, if we don’t talk and the media only gives you one side of the argument, you might not know that.

As someone who has campaigned for Scotland’s independence for 25 years, let me be clear: our desire for independence is entirely positive. It’s not about England or the rest of the UK, it’s about us. To me, it’s just the natural state of being for a country to want to make its own decisions and, more importantly, take responsibility for the results.

The links between our countries run too deep for Scotland’s independence ever to affect the social union between us. Personally, I have many links with England. As a child, I lived in Hampshire. As an adult I divided my time between Leeds and Glasgow.

My sister lives in Manchester. My fiancé is Jamaican by birth but was brought up in London. I love England. It is a stunningly beautiful country.

There are many political myths around Scotland but I can hardly blame you if you didn’t realise they were myths when there are clever people out there with a vested interest in convincing you and I.

My niece is reading Chinese Studies at Edinburgh University where her best friend is from Bath. They was some banter over whose round it was in the pub one night when the friend said “you should buy the round because I pay your tuition fees”. She clearly believed that England subsidised Scotland’s policy of free university tuition.

Worse still, a Scottish friend responded by saying she “had a point”. These are intelligent young women but who can blame them for believing what they are told?

I’m sure you can imagine how frustrating that attitude is for us when the truth is not that we are “given” extra money for policies like this but that our government, in the areas over which it has control, chooses a different route from the British Government.

I’m certain it will be news to you that although Scotland only makes up 8.4 per cent of the UK population, we contribute 9.9 per cent of the revenues and receive back only 9.3 per cent. I’m not against sharing, in fact I believe in redistributing wealth. I tell you this to put to bed the myth that somehow we are subsidised by the rest of the UK.

I appreciate that many in England are fighting the same fights as us when it comes to, for example, the hideous bedroom tax and the obscenity of nuclear weapons. The difference in Scotland is that the majority of politicians here oppose the aforementioned but still we are stuck with them. When it comes to nuclear weapons, our Scottish Parliament is opposed to the renewal of Trident, but not only must we pay our share instead of spending that money on education, health and housing, we have to host the weapons of mass destruction on Scotland’s soil.

Many in England who oppose the Tory-Lib Dem cuts agenda, accept our right to be independent but worry our leaving will abandon them to guaranteed Tory governments. I understand that fear but statistically, there’s nothing to support it.

More importantly, I believe Scotland voting “yes” will kick start a resurgence in England of, at least the social democratic type of politics the SNP is known for.

The wonderful Billy Bragg was interviewed for The Scotsman newspaper. He had me applauding out loud when he articulated exactly what I’ve always believed. According to Bragg, Scotland voting Yes could lead to a “shake up of the ossified politics of England and the domination of London”. I think he’s absolutely right.

All I would ask is that you keep an open mind as the debate over Scotland’s independence develops in the coming year.

Believe me when I say that this is simply about Scotland and our natural desire to take responsibility for ourselves. Know that nothing will ever interfere with the social union between our countries, nor would we want it to. And look forward to the prediction made by Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond who once said independence for Scotland would mean England would “lose a surly lodger and gain a good neighbour”.

• Anne McLaughlin is a former Member of the Scottish Parliament and currently sits on the SNP’s National Executive Committee. She has campaigned for Scotland’s Independence for 25 years.