INDEPENDENCE AND SCOTLAND’S JEWISH COMMUNITY BY RENAUD SARDA

National political matters and in particular the thorny issue of the independence referendum are in my view an unpopular and disengaging issue to the majority of the Jewish community in Scotland.

Most are Labour voters, and Learning from past experiences through history wherever in Britain or elsewhere, the Scottish Jews who are pro unionists tend to stick to all the same strategic moves as they did in 1995, first by not buying into the nationalists and some separatists claims of greatest opportunities and dream of a bold and a new confident Scotland run by Scottish people because they mistrust SNP and Alex Salmond, secondly they believe that Great Britain was built on enduring principles of equality, fairness, social justice and wish for it to continue.

Most of them back the opposition to Independence and trust the Conservative and Labour who wants them to vote no because they believe the referendum is not about Scotland interests but about a nationalists agenda and what it may lead to.

The Yes Scotland campaign are just days away from the greatest opportunity in their history, and a new Scotland could be less than 10 days away. They are not be complacent, they stood up well to the scaremongering, dissembling and misrepresentation of the No campaign helped by English based media and managed to stay positive.
Every day, more and more Labour supporters are seeing the opportunities on offer by SNP are and coming over to vote Yes. By the time polling day arrives a week on Thursday, it may well be that a majority of them will vote for independence rather than take the advice of Ed Miliband who they see simply as someone who would offer more austerity, including the privatisation of the NHS and continuation of the Tory benefit cap

Personally I believe that An independent Scotland is well overdue, our nation will be more capable of delivering all these things, including an NHS protected from privatisation because we Scots we value greatly the NHS, and have long wanted to see Scottish society based on equality, the right to work and social protection for the most vulnerable members of society, including the elderly, the sick and people with disabilities, and with our oil and Gas revenue we can well afford to pay decent, guaranteed and sustainable pensions. We currently spend a lower share of our national wealth on pensions and benefits than the UK as a whole, meaning better pensions are certainly affordable in an independent.

The Scottish Government under the SNP and Alex Salmond have committed itself to a pension’s triple lock. This will mean that the state pension will increase annually by either 2.5 per cent or the rate of inflation or the increase in average wages, whichever is highest.
That is a stronger commitment than any given by a Tory or Labour Government down the south and it would ensure that the existing state pension entitlement is more than met in an independent Scotland.

By Renaud Sarda

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