Scotland's Future

The release of the Scottish Government's White Paper on independence has sparked controversy, with Alastair Darling, the Better Together leader saying that the papers are a "work of fiction full of meaningless assertions".

Yet Alex Salmond, the Scottish First Minister, promises that the 670 page blueprint for Scottish Independence will launch a "revolution" in social policy with childcare at its heart.

Unleashing the paper, Scotland’s Future gives answers to the questions on the people’s lips and promises thirty hours of childcare per week in term time for all three and four-year-olds, as well as vulnerable two-year-olds, Trident nuclear weapons, currently based on the Clyde, will be removed within the first parliament, and housing benefit reforms, described by critics as the "bedroom tax", will be abolished, and there will be a halt to the rollout of Universal Credit.But the release has left a lot of questions unanswered.

The Deputy First Minister cannot guarantee Scots what currency their wages would be in, their mortgages, their pensions or their savings. I don't think releasing the white paper was a satisfactory way to help democracy in Scotland, just a way to add more undecided opinions, with one side of the argument saying the papers are a work of fiction and the other saying that if Scotland were to become independent, the paper would be the blue print for our society.

Personally, I feel Scotland's Future is an informative and insightful vision of what an independent Scotland will be, without the controls, mistakes and unwanted policies of Westminster.

Nevertheless, Scotland’s Future is a hefty document which needs serious time and consideration put into it, but I don’t feel it’s fair for the Better Together campaign just to brand it a “work of fiction” before they have had a chance to fully read the 640 page document.

I am confident that, as more and more young people take part in the debate and learn about the opportunities that a ‘Yes’ vote offers, the more they will see that independence makes sense for them, their families and their country.

I think the White Paper is a detailed, decisive, description of an independent vision, I also feel that the vision it offers is very much in the interests of the Scottish people.

Callum Martin, Whitehill Secondary