I don’t know if the Scots will vote for independence.
But the break up of Great Britain after hundreds of years of beneficial union would surely be another sign of a sick country.
A referendum on Scottish independence takes place next September and the Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond, recently unveiled his government’s white paper describing what they hope an independent Scotland would look like. They hope the pound would be kept. 30 hours of childcare per week in term time and a secure pension scheme were pledged. But it seems Britain’s deterrent, the Trident submarines based on the Clyde, would have to go somewhere else. In the UK, government concern is not to see Scotland cut itself loose; already shipbuilding at Portsmouth has been sacrificed in order to keep Scottish yards open.
Christian opinion
Both the Church of Scotland and the Free Church hold to the established church principle. A spokesman from the Free Church of Scotland said: ‘The white paper does not explicitly discuss the historical compact between the state and the church to work for the Christian good of Scotland. We hope that this is because the Scottish Government does not propose any alteration to the current arrangements’.
The re-emergence of heavy shepherds
What would you think if you received a letter from your church leaders that read like this? ‘Are church members …