Councillor Jim Orr is Independent Councillor for Southside/Newington.
This morning I hope I am waking up to a Scotland which has voted Yes. For too long we have suffered a “brain drain” to London and overseas, and our biggest export has not been oil but talent! I want young people to see Scotland as a land of opportunity again. We can create such a society if we put all our resources into working together to create Scottish solutions to Scottish challenges.
Although our parliament has grown in stature in recent years, it is still not the powerhouse parliament that we need in Scotland to create jobs and build a fairer society. Due mainly to the out of touch Westminster parliament and the lack of powers of our own, politics has become discredited in Scotland. But the wonderful grassroots Yes campaign has proven that there is still an appetite for public engagement. We need to reboot democracy here in Scotland and that starts with a Yes. I’ve never felt such an exciting atmosphere in the country and such a sense of expectation. I hope I’m right that Scotland had the compassion, wisdom and ambition to say Yes yesterday.
Submitted by Jim Orr
