All this talk about Berwick-Upon-Tweed becoming a part of Scotland again (The town has changed hands between the two nations at least 13 times) is typical of the media driven political world in which it's our joy to live.
According to a 'referendum' for Monday's ITV1 Tonight programme, 1,182 voters in favour of becoming part of Scotland and 775 in favour of staying in England. Now that is clearly a 'vote' in favour but I wonder if it would stay that way if a real vote was taken . A vote in which all the pros and cons were considered in a more thoughtful and less simplistic way. Particularly when it's considered how much it will cost to make all these changes, and who is going to pay for them?
According to the survey it was better financed public services, including free personal health care for the elderly, which were the main reasons for a pro-Scottish Berwick. However, how will that really shake down if suddenly the perceived advantages of being part of Scotland were to change? We can assume that Berwick-U-T will become part of the Scottish Borders. How will they like being administered from Newtown St Boswells - it's almost 50 miles away? Already the focus of Scottish Borders Council is very 'central Borders centric', will this make any difference? Could it even put up council charges for the rest of us who live in the Borders?
It's a Scottish SNP MSP that is behind the current talk and of course it suits their purpose well to try and highlight how much better 'living in Scotland' is. But, most of what is perceived as being better was as a result of the Labour administration and may well not be deliverable in the long term.
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