Referendum has me torn in two
t a time when expressing any view on the independence debate could prove perilous, this regular feature will reveal how some of the best known people in Inverness are voting on 18th September.
Kit Fraser, the owner of Hootananny Pub in Church Street, Inverness, feels confused and is yet to find his way in the independence debate.
"I am torn in two. If I can make up my mind I will vote. But I’m ambivalent. The argument for independence from what I can see is the battle of the brain versus the heart, the wallet versus the soul. I think if Scotland went independent we would be worse off financially for definite in the short-term and maybe in the long-term. That’s what’s happened to the Irish but the Irish prefer to be poor and have their pride and their identity, and control of their own destiny. That’s the Irish view, but there is a massive difference between Ireland and Scotland. Ireland is really an island by itself. We share the same land mass as England, we share the same language, we share the same religion, we share the same religious views or athiest viewpoints, we share the same TV, but at the same time the Scottish personality is very different to the English. It’s much more socialist, much less money-orientated, far less American. If Scotland went independent it might be highly invigorating, there might be a huge surge of energy. There’s racism in Scotland about the English and it would put a stop to that, which has to be a good thing. Suddenly there would not be a grudge. It might also lead to a less wasteful government, the tax take could go right down. Everyone knows massive companies don’t pay tax. It’s the four million entrepreneurs who employ 60 per cent of the workforce who do that. But not as much tax would need to be raised in a small country."
