A YES Vote is a Vote for the SNP?

Many people will say voting YES in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum is a vote for the SNP. 

The SNP are in power in the Scottish Parliament at the moment until the end of their current term in 2016 as per the current UK Scottish devolution settlement. At the end of their current term of office (and the negotiations for independence) Scotland would become independent, and Scotland’s first General Election would be called. If the Scots decided to vote the SNP in for another term of office then they could. However they could equally vote Labour, Liberal Democrat, or Conservative (or at least the new non-unionist parties that would be formed from the ashes of the Unionist ones of which they are now part). Or they may vote for the Scottish Greens, Scottish Socialists or some other party that I have omitted to mention. The SNP may even cease to exist in 2016 having achieved its central aim, i.e. to make Scotland an independent country.

So the answer is a definite no. A YES vote is not a vote for the SNP or Alex Salmond. It is a vote for Scotland becoming an independent country like all the other independent countries in the world. This is suggested by the question the electorate will be asked…

‘Should Scotland by an independent country?’

There is no mention of the SNP anywhere. This is understandable since there is every possibility that they will not be in power after 2016.

Taking the argument further if a YES vote is a vote for the SNP it could be argued that a NO vote is a vote for the Conservatives.

Scotland has not voted Conservative since the 1950s and doesn’t look like doing so any time soon. The question potential NO voters should ask themselves is ‘Is it right for Scotland to constantly get a Westminster Government it didn’t vote for?’.