Erstellt am: 11. 9. 2014 - 20:06 Uhr
Panda Power
English/Scottish readers, please scroll down five paragraphs. First I have some background to explain auf Deutsch: Eine Woche vor der Abstimmung über die schottische Unabhängigkeit spitzt sich der Wahlkampf (sagt man so?) derzeit dramatisch zu.
Wie vielleicht auch in Österreich zu hören war, ist die gesamte politische Elite von Westminster schnell rauf nach Schottland geflogen, um den Leuten dort zu versichern, dass England sie wirklich lieb hat und fürchterlich vermissen würde. David Cameron volkstümelte gar, dass das jetzt nicht der richtige Zeitpunkt sei, es den „effing Tories“ zu zeigen. Und dass es ihm „das Herz brechen“ würde, Schottland zu verlieren, weil er „sein Land mehr liebe als seine Partei.“
Er demonstrierte das, indem er bizarrerweise ausgerechnet seinen Vorgänger Gordon Brown, also den Mann, dem er seit seinem Amtsantritt in mantrischen Phrasen die Schuld an allen wirtschaftlichen Schwierigkeiten Großbritanniens anlastet, bevollmächtigt hat, kraft seiner schottischen Identität im Namen der Regierung mit allerhand Versprechungen in Sachen Steuerrecht und sozialstaatlichen Regelungen bis hin zum Recht auf Verstaatlichung von Bahnlinien um sich zu werfen, die Schottland selbst im Falle eines Nein-Votums zu einer quasi selbständigen Region erheben würden. Also das, was ursprünglich „Devo Max“ (die maximale Devolution) genannt und von Cameron selbst bisher immer ausgeschlossen wurde.
Über der Downing Street und an allerhand anderen Orten in England wurde die schottische Fahne gehisst, als Zeichen der inneren Verbundenheit. Gleichzeitig mit dieser emotionalen Offensive und dem Beteuern, dass es jetzt nicht ums Geld, sondern ums Herz geht, wurden die Männer in den grauen Anzügen ausgeschickt, um die Kunde der sich anbahnenden wirtschaftlichen Apokalypse im Falle der schottischen Unabhängigkeit zu verbreiten. Das Pfund fiel ein wenig, die Supermarktketten unkten, die Lebensmittel würden teurer werden, und in den BBC-Nachrichten hieß es, dass die Royal Bank of Scotland ihre Postadresse aus einem unabhängigen Schottland nach London verlegen würde. Und zwar noch bevor die Royal Bank of Scotland dieses Vorhaben ihren eigenen Angestellten mitteilte. Ups, wer hat da was weitererzählt?
Nun glaube ich zwar, dass sich die Schotten von diesen plötzlichen Liebeserklärungen erst recht noch mehr verarscht fühlen, andererseits haben wohl einige auch persönliche Angst um ihre Pensionen, ihre Sozialbeiträge, ihre Arbeitsplätze und hängen das im derzeitigen Klima vielleicht nicht so sehr an die große Glocke. Die Theorie der schweigenden "No"-Wähler_innen könnte schon was für sich haben.
Das Meinungsinstitut IPSOS Mori hat indessen heute als Ergebnis einer Umfrage die fünf Hauptgründe genannt, warum Wähler_innen zunehmend auf die "Yes"-Seite überwechseln.
And now let's switch back to English, because in the midst of all this clamour and confusion, all the fear and the euphoria, this Sunday Franz Ferdinand, Mogwai, Frightened Rabbit, Eddi Reader, Amy MacDonald are going to play the sold out Usher Hall in Edinburgh under the "Vote Yes" banner, as far as I know the biggest agit pop gig in favour of a specific British political issue since the Red Wedge tour supporting Labour during the 1987 electoral campaign.
Knowing Franz Ferdinand drummer Paul Thomson as an extremely sharp mind and having noticed his pro-independence comments on social media, I asked him a few questions, some of them fairly similar to the ones I asked RM Hubbert about three weeks ago, but er... that was three weeks ago (I have to apologise to Tom Morton by the way, whose strong counterargument was featured on my radio show but not transcribed for my blog because I went away on holiday shortly after we recorded it).
When did you make up your mind and what swung it for you?
*Explanation for non-Brits: This is true. Edinburgh Zoo has two pandas (famously reluctant to procreate), while the Scottish Conservatives currently only have one Member of Parliament in Westminster
Paul Thomson: I was never an SNP supporter and have never voted for them in the past. In my mind I’d labelled them as nationalists, and to me nationalism can be be a pretty ghastly thing. Borders generally exist to stake the claims of rich landowners, and some folk will wave a flag instead of having a personality of their own. However, I have always considered myself to be Scottish and Scotland has never been fairly represented in parliament, there are more pandas here than there are elected Tory MPs.*
Franz Ferdinand
You are the only born Scotsman in FF: Did you have to convince the rest of the band to get behind the cause?
PT: Alex and Bob supported independence way before me. Alex has lived in Scotland most of his life, Bob has been here for about 12 years and I can’t see him moving elsewhere, it’s his home. Where each of us was born doesn’t really have anything to do with the debate of whether Scotland should have fiscal autonomy or whatever.
Ahead of the gig at Usher Hall, do you think musicians can convince their audience to vote either way?
PT: I’d like to think so. So far we’ve lost one fan on Facebook, but when I saw they went to an American academy in Dubai I wasn’t that worried. If we didn’t think we could influence people to make the right decision and make Scotland better, then we wouldn’t be doing this show.
*To clarify: My Roddy Frame interview, in which he talked about an “instinctive feeling” that “people should be pulling together and not breaking apart” came with the qualifying statement that “People like me, exiles, people who have left, I don't think what we think should have all that much bearing on it. If the people of Scotland want independence, they should have it.” Also it is from May, so who knows what he thinks now.
As for Justin Currie, whom older readers might recognise from eighties/nineties “now that's actually a good song” daytime radio infiltrators Del Amitri: Since posing my questions to Paul I discovered that Currie has actually changed his mind and cast a postal Yes vote on Youtube (listen out for the encouragement from the woman, presumably his girlfriend, holding the camera).
Young musicians seem to go almost universally for independence, older Scottish musicians seem less convinced or against (Roddy Frame, Gerry Love, Annie Lennox, er.. Justin Currie*) – is there a generational divide? If so, is it because you used to have to move down to London to make it?
PT: Scotland loses a lot of its creative talent to London, and it’s been that way for a while. I certainly moved to London for a while when we first started out but felt the pull to move back to Glasgow. Young people and musicians are more idealistic than older people I guess. The way this debate has energised and politicised young people is really exciting, they’re the ones that could swing the vote. Older people I find tend to fear change, and those are the ones most likely to read newspapers, and it’s the newspapers, many with a vested interest, that are employing scare tactics. Young people are more likely to find information on social media and it’s there where the argument has been more positive and alive with possibilities.
Franz Ferdinand
A message for Bowie, McCartney and Jagger in reply to their well-meaning advice to “stay together”?
They are entitled to their opinion on Scottish independence just as I am entitled to an opinion on where they choose to live or how they spend their earnings. Between them they’ve written some cracking tunes though.
RM Hubbert says this is not a nationalist thing – there is a romantic aspect to it as well, though, isn't there? A certain notion of Scotland as the innately more progressive nation.
Scots tend to get dewy-eyed about a lot of things, for me it’s about equality and social justice.
If it is a Yes on the 18th, what do you expect to change in your life, the life of your family, your neighbourhood?
I expect the papers to stir up a lot of shit before finally drying their eyes and getting over it. Westminster has no contingency plan in the event of a yes vote, so there will be a bit of economic unrest internationally but Scots are pretty good at getting on with things and there will be a lot of work to do in an order to build a completely new infrastructure and form of government but I say, as a lot of folk do, bring it on.