Yes Scotland’s advisory board chairman Dennis Canavan has challenged the pro-Union parties to reveal their visions for Scotland if there is a Yes vote in the 2014 referendum. He says it should not be left solely to the Scottish Government to produce a blueprint for an independent Scotland.
"The anti-independence parties – Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats – also owe it to the Scottish people to reveal their visions for Scotland in the event of a Yes vote in 2014. After all, they will all be vying for your votes in the first independent Scottish Parliament election in 2016," he says in an essay about the opportunities of independence for the Herald newspaper.
Mr Canavan, former Labour MP and independent MSP, says he is not a Nationalist but firmly believes that independence is the best route to achieve a better, fairer and more equal Scotland.
And he calls on everybody - not just politicians - to start forming their own vision of the kind of country they would like for themselves, their children and future generations.
He says: "As the proponents of change, we in Yes Scotland have a duty to spell out why we believe Scotland would benefit from being independent and why it would enable us to build the kind of country that matches our values and priorities.
"Equally, our opponents have a responsibility to explain why they think the UK remains the better option for Scotland rather than just aimlessly attacking self-determination.
"The Scottish Government has said it will lay out its vision in a White Paper next year. But the people of Scotland deserve to know what all parties would do in an independent Scotland. It is simply not good enough to ignore it in the hope that there will be a No vote."
Dennis Canavan's full piece can be found on the Herald website.
