Honest debate on the Union

LAST Friday night Scotland on Sunday hosted its debate on the Union, which was a spirited and successful occasion, with the audience fully engaged.

The two contenders, Nicola Sturgeon of the SNP and Wendy Alexander for Labour, both made passionate and eloquent speeches. This was a memorable encounter, with the Nationalists winning the day on an audience vote.

We remain committed to our declared neutrality on this issue. We are waiting, like most Scots, to be convinced one way or the other, on the merits of the competing claims. But before the country goes to the polls, there must be a rational analysis of the options for Scotland's future.

With just 102 days to go until polling, there are signs this crucial election is being hijacked by unrelated issues, especially Iraq. This is understandable. Iraq is a very important issue: many thousands have lost their lives. We have often shared, in this editorial column, our readers' concerns. But it should not be the determining factor in an election for the Scottish Parliament. Yet Labour is struggling to get its case for the Union across because of public resentment over the Iraq war.

That the Nationalists should exploit disillusionment with Tony Blair and his foreign policy is understandable, but they also have a responsibility to make their case that Scotland would be a better, richer, happier nation under independence, and not rely on triggering emotional reactions. They have to prove that our schools would improve, not decline; that our hospitals would function better, not struggle; that our whole standard of living would not only be maintained, but enhanced.

With Wendy Alexander and her colleagues claiming a deficit of £11.2bn under independence, the SNP must persuasively counter that claim. It will not do so by exploiting resentment over Iraq. Like the rest of the nation, we are open to persuasion; but where's the beef?

For so long as Tony Blair remains Prime Minister, it is to be feared the election will be dominated by Iraq and Trident. The SNP could make the legitimate point that, had Scotland been independent, we would not have been embroiled in Iraq. But it remains peripheral to the central question: how would we live in a separate Scotland?

Labour is struggling in this election. Its problems are compounded by the dilemma of its incoming leader, Gordon Brown, who is engaged in a Janus-faced exercise to prove his credentials as both Scottish and British. Most recently, this has led to his farcical emergence as an England football supporter. He is tying himself in knots and discrediting his cause in the process.

We have already warned this election must not be a protest vote. If the Nationalists make the case for independence convincingly, so be it. But the crucial decision to break with the Union should only be made because the electorate has truly been persuaded independence would lead to a better life, not because voters want to punish Labour. We have 102 days to confront the real issues and determine our future.