Mr Speaker, Honourable members, I just want to make some brief comments in this closing session on the referendum in Scotland and the importance of it to us. It was a very important and momentous occasion for the United Kingdom generally but it actually has implications that go wider than that.
The fact that the Scots had the right to hold the referendum in the first place was a very important issue and many, many people around the world didn’t fail to notice that the United Kingdom had agreed with the Scottish National party that Scots did have a right to hold a referendum to determine their long-term future, the long-term social aspirations, the long-term political inspirations. So the fact the referendum was held at all is a fundamentally important issue for us and for the world generally to see the United Kingdom was acting in that way.
It was great to see an open and inclusive debate amongst Scots, both those living in Scotland and those who didn’t live in Scotland. And there are lessons to be learned in all UK Politics and perhaps Falklands’ politics about the importance of that open and inclusive debate.
From my prospective the most important thing was, at the end of the day, the maintenance of the Union. I, like others, would have been absolutely horrified had the union been broken. It matters a great deal to us that the United Kingdom is a single United Kingdom and that it doesn’t break up into smaller units. But there will be a lot of constitutional debates and a lot of constitutional development as a result of the referendum in Scotland and I hope that the right that various parts of the United Kingdom are seeking for more social justice is well balanced with the rights of businesses and others to generate wealth in a way that they see fit.
And there is an important discussion and debate to be had there and I am sure we will all listen to it with great interest.
The important thing I just wanted to say to our constituents is that as a result of the Scottish referendum there are no changes for the Overseas Territories and for the Falkland islands. What might have happened if there had been a YES vote is something else.
But at the end of the day there has been a very clear exercise in our United Kingdom jurisdiction of the fundamental right to self-determination and to us it is a great deal indeed. And I thank and congratulate the Scots on what they have done.
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