I’ve never done a blog before, I want to put that on the table right away- I don’t know if there is any special etiquette I should be aware of. This page came about one night (this night) after I discovered I didn’t want to bombard the social media public with my musings much longer…I’ll continue, but it won’t be in great volume. Excuse the name of the blog- it’s a nod to a personal joke.

The first topic I wanted to discuss is one of my favourites, but not for a lot of others, politics.

I’m not sure what will feature here at this point- I’ll just go a long with it as I type with some light subbing (I hope) at the end to tie up some loose ends. I’m going to post my thoughts/opinions starting from September 18th 2014, the day of the Scottish referendum, as I believe it was the beginning of…something in the UK political landscape. However it will be up to the historians to determine what the most important vote in our history commenced.

On that Thursday, 84.5% of the Scottish election (including 16-17 year olds) turned out to make their feelings known to the world whose eyes were watching. Should Scotland be an independent country? Yes or No. The result proved decisive (depending on who you ask) that its people as a majority wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Post referendum analysis was in full swing on the 19th as bylines and headlines had to accompany statistic ridden copy. Unsurprisingly, at least to yours truly, I also underwent some post-ref scrutiny for my own benefit.

There’s no doubting that wealth and social class was a major factor in the way people voted. This was a very much grass-roots campaign from both sides, more so the Yes campaign through various branches such as the Radical Independence campaign. Many people who hadn’t voted before or not for years in working class areas signed up to the electoral register with the help of these grass-roots campaigners. I can only commend them highly for that, being a fan of nation wide democracy, no matter your voting preference.

I believed in my own post-referendum round-up that the majority of working class people swayed towards independence. Official pollsters and number crunchers proved this to be the case too…but I don’t want to blow my own trumpet. Why did they vote this way though?

In my opinion, a lot of working class people don’t feel the benefits of the Westminster system. Recently, the BBC revealed that 820,000 people were poverty-stricken in a 2014 Scotland, with one in 10 in ‘severe poverty. Nobody can excuse this figure. The Better Together campaign’s main rhetoric throughout was we were ‘getting the best of both worlds’…many never felt that way. The Yes campaign used the scandalous figures to their benefit, giving the impression that it would be better once Scotland became independent and a No vote would continue the status quo. The working class seemed to believe them as they voted Yes in a majority.

Nevertheless, the Better Together campaign won many votes from the wealthier Scots. A major downfall of the Yes campaign was the currency issue. The main faces of the independence campaign were split. Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon were hell-bent on a currency union with the rest of the UK whereas others like Jim Sillars preferred a new Scottish currency. The problem was, the UK were not willing to accept a currency union with an independent Scotland. In one televised debate, the leader of the Better Together Campaign, Alistair Darling, trumped his opposite number Salmond on the issue, arguably winning the debate and minds of some undecided Scots. Wealthier folk could have seen the currency debate as a major factor for the way they voted, if they believed their fortune could be affected by independence.

There were other reasons for people’s voting tendencies such as jobs, movement in the UK and the NHS which both sides tussled over in the run up to the vote. There of course was another issue that not a lot have taken into proper consideration- football…so I will. I don’t believe the physical game swayed people’s opinion on the referendum, rather the fans of clubs did. This indeed was a grass-roots campaign from both sides and social media pages from clubs across the country supporting one side of the argument did appear- ‘Hearts fans say Yes’ for example.

The two teams with the biggest supporters also got in on the action. Predictably the Glasgow couple were split as a majority on the issue. Rangers fans swayed towards the Better Together campaign whereas Celtic fans preferred independence. However, this campaign did throw up some surprises. Two groups appeared with reasonable support- Rangers fans for Independence and Celts for UK, showing that there were people willing to go against the grain and follow the arguments they believed in rather than what their fellow football supporter did. Some may say that deciding the way your voting on football is stupid, but I have witnessed it and others also agree with this. I also believe that these are your ‘bread and butter’ types for each campaign and to get them to switch your side will take some doing…Yes lost so they have work to do.

Moving swiftly on, Scotland was promised extra powers by all three leaders at Westminster. Signed and sealed- a promise is what appeared on the front of a popular tabloid. Gordon Brown emphasised this when he took the reins of his campaign promising near federalism in the UK with a timetable in place too. Another supporter of No, former Bradford West MP, George Galloway, commented on his comrade’s inspiring performance on stage. Following the rejection of independence, the Smith Commission was formed to discuss Scotland’s new powers.

Members from various parties in Scotland discussed at length what sort of powers should be devolved to a Scottish parliament. Some were pleased with the outcome whilst others were not. The vow has been delivered was the opinion of prominent No campaigners whereas the Yes side believed that Scotland had been lied to in terms of the depth of received powers. Predictable from both camps really.

Fast forward to May 2015 and we were back in the polling stations, this time for the General Election. Running on an anti-austerity campaign, the SNP won all but three of Scotland’s 59 seats. Meanwhile down south, the Conservatives swept across England gaining a majority, leaving Labour doomed and the Lib-Dems barely existent. The political landscape had changed in what was dubbed ‘The biggest by-election’.

I was present at the vote count in Glasgow’s Emirates velodrome arena. A first for myself as I got to watch the election unfold in front of my eyes. Anticipation grew around the room for the parties involved, as well as two classmates and I. As the results were announced, those inside the venue turned into a football crowd with all sides giving major cheers and celebrations to their respective candidates. I would later overhear this same comparison said by a fellow spectator months later on a date he was on…I could only chuckle in agreement.

At the count I was a matter of metres between Ruth Davidson and Nicola Sturgeon giving their respective interviews…the First Minister not pleased with our audible noise in the distance. Both women were ecstatic with the performance of their parties in the election. Sturgeon continued the narrative of fighting austerity with as many anti-Tory MPs as possible whereas Davidson was insistent that a strong Conservative government is what Britain needs.

Very recently, the majority Conservative government produced its first budget since 1997 to a mixed reaction. One stand-out was the introduction of a new national minimum wage. Introduced in April 2016, over 25s will receive £7.25 minimum wage rising to £9 by 2019. The announcement was met with rousing applause from Conservative benches…just look at Ian Duncan Smith’s reaction. Sceptics of the government don’t replicate Mr Smith’s elated reaction at the news. They criticise the Chancellor for restricting Tax and Universal credits of families with two children. Furthermore, people aged between 18-21 cannot claim housing benefit automatically- putting many students into jeopardy along with tuition fees in the rest of the UK.

Many Scottish tabloids have painted the budget in a negative light, many of whom backed to stay in the UK. However, I’m not sure if it’s right for pro-independence supporters who have jumped to criticise them for mocking the budget. These same newspapers support Labour, not the Conservatives who made the budget…maybe someone can enlighten me. Some might say that we were warned.

I believe I’ve rambled on long enough. I’ve probably forgot a lot of things to add or little side notes I’d like to add. I’m really enjoying the blogging game and hope I can keep it up.