I was out picking some tomatoes today. We didn't get many this year plus those we did are on the very small side. This year has not been the greatest harvest from the garden though some crops have done well. Those being the blueberries and cooking apples. Strawberries, peas, potatoes and onions have all been not to bad but they could have been better. Really I shouldn't complain as at least we did manage to get a good crop from some things and though the growing season is coming to a close I still have some things to keep an eye on. The strawberries have begun sending out their runners which means weeding tomorrow. The parsnips are beginning to die back which means I will soon find out how well they have done this year. And I still have some more carrots still to pull. The last lot were delicious.
More scare stories are being put round by both side in the referendum debate. The yes side are claiming that the Scottish NHS may be under threat from cuts if there is a no vote. When you hear both side argue over this it makes you wonder as this is already a devolved issue. Yet at the same time the Westminster government has said their will be further cuts to the Scottish block grant. This in turn would lead to cuts but I am not sure that these would be made to the NHS. So what would we lose? Well earlier in the year Scottish labour did give a hint to what they would cut. Student fees would be introduced, free prescription done away with and the freeze on council tax abolished. At least that was what the leader of Scottish Labour claimed at the beginning of the year. These policies would hurt me very much in the pocket and Magz needs a lot of medicines as you know. Then both of my children are now going to college now. Plus the council tax is a struggle to pay as it is without a rise which the SNP have protected us from.
Of course a yes result in the referendum doesn't mean these things are any safer from Labour. And if it was left to the far right then we would be paying just to see the doctor as it was in the bad old days. I'd hate to see those days return.
Of course the no camp would have us all believe the world will stop spinning if we vote yes. That Westminster will demand all Scotland's money leaving us skint and then they will rebuild Hadrian's wall. The list of things we would not be able to do is laughable at best and embarrassing for them. If they had won the argument over money maybe I would have been more inclined to listen but they didn't because they believe we should be afraid of the future without the Westminster government to stand at our backs. I think I'm more afraid of the thought of them being at my back than them not. After all for most of my life I have seen the damage that has been brought to bare on society by their policies. Poll Tax, the closing of Ravenscraig, and more recently the bedroom tax. Westminster is out of touch with us north of the border ands much of the rest of the UK. Will a Yes to independence change that? Will bring a full government to Scotland with full powers make it more in touch with our need? Will it make us better off? I don't know but I think it is better than what the other side is offering, more of the same.