Scottish referendum: ‘We have to emphasise the identity and connections’

Michael Moore sits in his Galashiels office in the Scottish Borders. He is calm, but all too aware of the storm engulfing Scotland's independence referendum.

“It has ebbed and flowed. I concede, I don’t think anyone anticipated the voting coming as close as it has, or even flipping around. But we will win this on the arguments or not at all,” he says.

The Liberal Democrats MP is the man who, as secretary of state for Scotland before he was demoted this year, agreed the rules for next week’s referendum.

Unionist vision

Moore is the most unionist of men. He was born in Belfast to Northern Irish parents of Scottish ancestry, was raised in Scotland, and married a Manchester woman. His father was a British army chaplain.

“I was born in Ireland, I am proudly Scottish but I am proudly British and I don’t want, or feel the need to choose between them, or want to have to be made to choose,” he says.

The No side’s arguments needs a better mix of emotions, he accepts, and giving leading roles to Labour’s Gordon Brown and the Liberal Democrats’ Charles Kennedy in the final days could help.

“I was an accountant before I was a politician so I am not necessarily the obvious person to deliver that kind of message,” he says.

“We can’t look at the polls and pretend that we can go as before. We mustn’t lose sight of the hard questions, but we have to emphasise the identity and connections that exist, too.”

Opinion in the Borders is solidly No, though nerves have started to fray in the wake of a series of opinion polls that put the race at neck-and-neck.

People in the borderlands have meshed over centuries, by blood and business – ties that many locals fear will be damaged if they are out-voted on September 18th.

“There was a woman in the Better Together offices this morning, in tears. I had a number of folk coming up to me today saying, ‘Why is it so close? You have to do more.’

“Well, we all have to do more. Many people thought that voting was all they had to do. Now they know that they need to do more. This is the most important vote of our lives,” he says.

Moore agreed the terms of the Edinburgh Agreement in 2012 with the Scottish National Party's Nicola Sturgeon. The agreement was for a binding referendum on September 18th that asked one question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"

This week, No campaigners offered guaranteed extra Home Rule powers to Scotland for their votes, raising questions about the British government’s refusal to offer devolution on the ballot paper.

The Yes side has made great play of the last-minute guarantees, saying the pro-union side is panicking in the face of a substantial drift in opinion.

Moore doubts that the SNP never really wanted a two-question referendum, but he accepts that it can argue that it sought it during negotiations, if half-heartedly.

The referendum has to be decisive, he says: “We have to know waking up on September 19th what we voted for.”

Scottish National Party’s finance secretary John Swinney was asked what would happen if 54 per cent of voters opted for independence but 80 per cent of them said they wanted more powers.

“That’s easy, he said, it would be independence because it is the superior constitutional form. Right, good luck mate, we’d see how many people would see him in court on that one.”

EU link

Unlike some in the No camp, the former secretary of state does not doubt that Scotland will be part of the European Union, but the price of membership is another question.

“The nationalists argument is that we will get membership and a better deal on the Common Agriculture Policy, a better deal on fisheries, on structural funds.

“They say we won’t have to commit to the euro.

“We won’t have to join Schengen and we won’t have to have our own independent financial regulator because we can borrow the UK’s. That’s spectacular.”

Come September 19th, Scotland awakes to a new world, whichever way the results go, says Moore, who draws on the words of former Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien.

“I heard him speak in London about 18 months. He said, ‘Whatever the result, you will have trampled on somebody’s dreams.’

“Wise words. There will be a responsibility on all political leaders.

“I think it will be highly charged, very emotional. How we live with each other afterwards will be hugely important. Together, we must say, ‘Let’s make this a better Scotland.’”