Scotland is at the forefront of developing wave power and its Islay LIMPET development opened in 2001 was the world's first commercial scale wave energy device.
Tidal power is in the development stage. The scheme unveiled at Invergordon in 2010 is claimed to the largest tidal turbine ever built(12) .
A free Scotland could become a significant pioneer in renewable energy and thereby give encouragement by example to England and other states.
The Scottish Culture
Scottish independence is a nuclear issue in addition to the fissile-material aspects. It is also nuclear in the dictionary sense of 'That around which something can grow'. A free Scotland will be an example to the world of what can be achieved by a liberal culture that is not hopelessly entangled in the interests of big business and power elites; that puts the wellbeing of its people first.
A free Scotland would improve the finances of its citizens. The tax system would be made fairer and energy bills would be reduced by 5 per cent(13). The state pension would be protected with stronger guarantees that the real value would not fall. An ensured minimum wage will rise with inflation as will the value of benefits, tax allowances, and tax credits. The rolling out of Universal Credit would be stopped and the 'bedroom tax' abolished. All this would be facilitated by not having to subsidise nuclear power, not having to incur the huge expense of creating and maintaining a nuclear arsenal, not waging imperial wars, and not giving massive support to the arms trade.
Scotland is one of the richest nations on the planet. In 2011 it was ranked eighth out of the 34 developed countries in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). If free it would elect to share its wealth equitably among its citizens.
But the underlying justification for Scottish independence is to continue developing a unique and priceless culture and heritage with values that are not synonymous with those of the Westminster elites or the US. These elites are content to oversee a UK system in which the five richest families own more than the poorest three million six hundred and forty thousand families(15)! We learn from the Office of National Statistics that in the UK the richest 10 per cent of the population owns 43.8 per cent of the wealth. This degree of imbalance would not be acceptable in a free Scotland.
Hugely contributing to the prosperity of a free Scotland would be its attitude to further education. It would not saddle its most talented and industrious young people with enormous debts. Under the Westminster government the average graduate leaves university with a dept of 44,000 pounds(14)! What a way to start one's adult life. They will be well into middle age before they will have paid it off. Such a thing would be inconceivable in Scotland where university education is free.
Scottish universities are renowned internationally, with five in the world's top 200 and are winning competitive research funds at a rate of 50% above the UK average based on their excellence(15).
Also overlooked, seem to be the comments of Professor Raffe of the University of Edinburgh and Alastair Sim from 'Universities Scotland' (paragraph 8) 'that, despite its excellence, the Scottish higher education and research sector was not as visible internationally as it could be because it was perceived as being part of the overall UK brand'(15). All that will change.
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