Observations About Wales:

From Travel To Business & Politics

first published in   December 1996

Economics Can Carry the Message for Independence

Since politics is a field hot with emotion, the best way to make a persuasive political point is to be cool and use numbers and good economic reasoning. The Scots are doing it, and their message is resounding not only in London but in America as well. Wales can learn from Scotland’s latest efforts to make its case for independence heard.

“Peaceably Scots War With London” is the title of a story that appeared on November 1, 1996, in the New York Times. The article talks about Alex Salmond, formerly an oil analyst with the Royal Bank of Scotland. Now head of the Scottish Nationalist Party, Mr. Salmond has taken London to task, showing Scotland’s importance in the United Kingdom, using basic arithmetic. In his calculation he found that over the 17 years of Conservative Party Rule, Scotland has presented London with a surplus £18,000. Next he listed Scotland’s contributions by percentages to Europe’s technological revolution. The story finishes up with the fact that Scotland may be on the verge of reestablishing its own parliament, assuming a victory by Britain’s Labour Party.

Mr. Salmond’s logical, intellectually appealing approach is impossible to refute. His numbers, as they say, speak for themselves. With the numbers he draws a portrait of Scotland as a hard working nation in the shadow of England. And with these numbers he won a third of a page for Scotland in an extremely prestigious American newspaper.

Using his persuasive message buttressed by hard numbers, I think Mr. Salmond is making his play to assure the chance for Scotland to win some autonomy no matter which party is in power in London’s Parliament. Coming out with his numbers he is showing how important Scotland is to the rest of the United Kingdom, and is demanding that Scotland be given a stronger voice in determining its own future. And interestingly, the New York Times saw it fit to bring this man’s message, on behalf of his country, to America. As a result, the 1,157,656 subscribers (which means many more readers) of the New York Times are now a little richer in their knowledge of Scotland. They now know that aside from processing salmon and playing bagpipes the people in Scotland also produce 30 percent of Europe’s personal computers; and that when you use an ATM in Europe chances are it was made in Scotland.

Wales must take Scotland’s outspokenness to heart. Wales, too, must speak out and make it clear to the rest of the United Kingdom, Europe, America and the world that it has much to offer, that it is an important and valuable part of the British Isles.

Like Mr. Salmond’s Scotland, Wales needs to decide exactly what it has to bring to the table, what it wants to achieve, and how it can most effectively deliver these messages to London.