Readers respond to the former prime minister’s hope for a middle way for Scotland rather than independence
Like Banquo’s ghost, Gordon Brown returns to haunt the independence debate in Scotland (Many Scots don’t want independence, but a more cooperative union, 9 May). And much like said spirit, he has come to represent not salvation but bad portents, because the last time he appeared was with “the vow” to deliver greater autonomy for Scotland within the union, in the hope of puncturing greater aspirations just prior to the referendum in September 2014. Then came David Cameron’s Downing Street “English votes for English laws” speech the day after the result, followed by the illusory promises of the Smith report. But here’s Brown again, heaving into view.
The truth is that either the vow wasn’t delivered on or the crumbs it offered weren’t enough for an ever greater number of people in Scotland who see the union for what it is: not a partnership of equals but an anachronism predicated on Scotland being forever subjugated to the Conservative-dominated political direction of travel down south.
