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| Scottish independence would weaken UK's global status, says ex-Nato chief | Scottish independence would weaken UK's global status, says ex-Nato chief |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| George Robertson, the formerly UK defence secretary and Nato chief, has claimed Scottish independence would have a "cataclysmic" effect on European and global stability by undermining the UK on the world stage. | |
| The Labour peer told an audience in America that a yes vote would give succour to separatist movements across Europe, risk destabilising Northern Ireland and embolden dictators and "annexers" around the world. | |
| In the most aggressive and pessimistic speech yet by a senior figure in the no campaign, Lord Robertson said many Scottish voters were unaware their decision in September's referendum had implications far beyond Britain. | |
| A breakup of the UK would weaken its global status and a yes vote would leave the UK government embroiled in a complex internal dispute about the terms of Scottish independence just as "solidity and cool nerves" were needed on the world stage. The "loudest cheers" after a yes vote would come from the west's enemies and other "forces of darkness". | |
| "What could possibly justify giving the dictators, the persecutors, the oppressors, the annexers, the aggressors and the adventurers across the planet the biggest pre-Christmas present of their lives by tearing the United Kingdom apart?" Robertson said at the Brookings Institution on Monday. | |
| "I fear from time to time that we Scots are living in a veritable bubble in this debate and outside of that increasingly fractious bubble, we're losing sight of the fact that our decision on the 18 September will have much wider and bigger implications that any of us yet grasp." | "I fear from time to time that we Scots are living in a veritable bubble in this debate and outside of that increasingly fractious bubble, we're losing sight of the fact that our decision on the 18 September will have much wider and bigger implications that any of us yet grasp." |
| Robertson's speech was intended in part to pressure President Obama's administration into saying publicly it opposes Scottish independence. The Scottish government dismissed it as "crass and offensive" scaremongering. | |
| A spokesman for Alex Salmond, the Scottish first minister, said the speech was crass and offensive and "has absolutely nothing positive to say". | |
| Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's deputy first minister, said she was shocked. Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, she said Robertson was a well known hardliner on nationalism, but that the language he used "does a real disservice to the debate". | |
| Talk of "forces of darkness" and being "cataclysmic" to western stability "completely moves away from any semblance of rational debate and I think many people, whether they're yes or no, will find these comments insulting and offensive". | |
| Robertson said a Scottish yes vote could provoke further disintegration in Europe. It would embolden separatists in Catalonia, who plan a referendum in November, and terrorist groups in the Basque region of Spain, who have recently renounced violence. It could also lead to Belgium splitting apart with Flemish nationalists pressing to break away. | |
| "So I contend that it is far from scaremongering to use the term Balkanisation to predict what might happen if Scotland were to break from its 300-year-old union," he said. | "So I contend that it is far from scaremongering to use the term Balkanisation to predict what might happen if Scotland were to break from its 300-year-old union," he said. |
| "The fragmentation of Europe starting on the centenary of the first world war would be both an irony and a tragedy with incalculable consequences." | "The fragmentation of Europe starting on the centenary of the first world war would be both an irony and a tragedy with incalculable consequences." |
| Robertson's speech came as Salmond began a week-long visit to America to promote a yes vote and Scottish business interests. He has announced a series of US investments in Scotland and made a speech on Scotland's energy potential. | |
| Salmond told an American audience this week that a written constitution for an independent Scotland would draw heavily on the US constitution, a document influenced by Scots emigres. | |
| Scotland would be a full and "constructive" member of Nato, he said, even as it insisted on the UK's nuclear weapons being withdrawn. An independent Scotland would also strive to work with the UN and the EU to promote global peace. | |
| "For most countries, greatness can only come from influence, not force; from soft, not hard power; from enlightened self-interest, not self-interest alone. It will come from their people, their values, their reputation and their ideas," he told an audience at Glasgow Caledonian university's New York campus. | "For most countries, greatness can only come from influence, not force; from soft, not hard power; from enlightened self-interest, not self-interest alone. It will come from their people, their values, their reputation and their ideas," he told an audience at Glasgow Caledonian university's New York campus. |
| Salmond's spokesman said the referendum – which has been endorsed and authorised by the UK parliament, was a model for a free democratic vote. | Salmond's spokesman said the referendum – which has been endorsed and authorised by the UK parliament, was a model for a free democratic vote. |
| "Scotland can and will make a hugely positive contribution to the world as an independent country – and our referendum is a model of democracy, which was cited as such only last month by the US secretary of state [John Kerry]," he said. | "Scotland can and will make a hugely positive contribution to the world as an independent country – and our referendum is a model of democracy, which was cited as such only last month by the US secretary of state [John Kerry]," he said. |
| Kerry said the Scottish referendum was a model for legally sanctioned self-determination against the aggressive annexation of Crimea by Russia, when he gave evidence to the House foreign affairs committee in Washington in March. | Kerry said the Scottish referendum was a model for legally sanctioned self-determination against the aggressive annexation of Crimea by Russia, when he gave evidence to the House foreign affairs committee in Washington in March. |
| Robertson, the first defence secretary in Tony Blair's Labour government in 1997, is famous among Scottish independence campaigners for predicting in 1995 that devolution of some powers to a new Scottish parliament would kill nationalism "stone dead". In fact, it has allowed the SNP to win a majority government and hold the independence referendum. | Robertson, the first defence secretary in Tony Blair's Labour government in 1997, is famous among Scottish independence campaigners for predicting in 1995 that devolution of some powers to a new Scottish parliament would kill nationalism "stone dead". In fact, it has allowed the SNP to win a majority government and hold the independence referendum. |
| Robertson said comparisons by Scots nationalists of their cause with the US wars of independence were "tortured" and "facile", since Scotland was not a colony but a vibrant, wealthy and successful partner within the UK. | Robertson said comparisons by Scots nationalists of their cause with the US wars of independence were "tortured" and "facile", since Scotland was not a colony but a vibrant, wealthy and successful partner within the UK. |
| "It is not oppressed. It's not discriminated against. It isn't disadvantaged," Robertson said. "Indeed, it's the second most prosperous part of United Kingdom outside of London and the south-east of England. And that's largely because we are part of the United Kingdom. We are not persecuted. | "It is not oppressed. It's not discriminated against. It isn't disadvantaged," Robertson said. "Indeed, it's the second most prosperous part of United Kingdom outside of London and the south-east of England. And that's largely because we are part of the United Kingdom. We are not persecuted. |
| "Scots are prominent, some would say dominant, at every level of British life. We speak the same language; we enjoy the same currency; the same central bank; the same regulatory system; the same public service broadcast; and much, much more. | "Scots are prominent, some would say dominant, at every level of British life. We speak the same language; we enjoy the same currency; the same central bank; the same regulatory system; the same public service broadcast; and much, much more. |
| "And at the same time as all of that, we have in Scotland a legislative parliament which has full powers on health, education, transport, the legal system, local administration, agriculture, land, tourism and practically every other domestic field. We have, indeed, as Scots, got the best of both worlds." | "And at the same time as all of that, we have in Scotland a legislative parliament which has full powers on health, education, transport, the legal system, local administration, agriculture, land, tourism and practically every other domestic field. We have, indeed, as Scots, got the best of both worlds." |