EDINBURGH, September 13 (RIA Novosti), Mark Hirst – A leading figure in the Scottish independence campaign, Jim Sillars, told RIA Novosti Saturday he would like to see a program nationalizing key public services, bringing them back under public control following a Yes vote in the upcoming referendum on the Scottish independence.
"I am not advocating wholesale nationalization of everything, but we have to be able to ensure that the basic public services that people rely on are not in private hands to make a profit," Sillars, a former Deputy Leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), told RIA Novosti.
There is a need to prioritize which currently privatized utility services would be brought back under full public control in an independent Scotland, Sillars told RIA Novosti.
"There has to be a concentration of priorities. The national electricity grid would be a major priority for us," Sillars said.
The former Labor and SNP MP was speaking after warning of a "day of reckoning" for big corporations who have publicly voiced opposition to Scottish independence. Sillars singled out Bob Dudley, Chief Executive of British oil giant BP, for particular criticism.
"This referendum is about power, and when we get a Yes majority, we will use that power for a day of reckoning with BP and the banks," Sillars said. "The heads of these companies are rich men, in cahoots with a rich English Tory Prime Minister, to keep Scotland"s poor, poorer through lies and distortions. The power they have now to subvert our democracy will come to an end with a Yes."
Ian Davidson, a Labor MP from Glasgow who previously suggested pro-Scottish independence supporters should be "bayonetted" in the event of a No vote responded to Sillars' comments, by saying that his "words are a clear threat to anyone who points out the true costs of separation to the people of Scotland. Now we see the real face of nationalism in all its ugliness."
On September 18, Scotland is scheduled to hold a referendum on independence from the United Kingdom. The voters will be asked one question, "Should Scotland be an independent country?"
