Can we not be seen as grown-ups? Please?

Can it really be over a fortnight since I penned my last diatribe? Tempus fugit seems ever more apt as time passes by. A lot has happened (as usual) in the intervening period, some of which has kept me far too occupied to update this blether of a blog although, if truth be told, inspiration has, also, been sadly lacking but, no matter, here I am chapping at the bit and ready to go!

Since we last spoke, I have taken what is, for me anyway, an almighty step. I won't reveal my age but think George Clooney and you're, probably, not too far out either way (I don't know what age George is but we look so similar that we could almost be twins!). What have I done that I regard as being momentous? I have joined my first ever political party and am proud to say I am now a fully paid up member of the SNP. I have the Unionists to thank for this development as, I suspect, do many of the what must now be near 2,000 people who have joined the SNP since the turn of the year.

Anyway, as per, I digress. Today, I am not at work (yippee!) so decided to use my time wisely and venture into Galashiels for my first haircut of 2012. Being a lazy so-and-so and with FirstBus charging £4.80 to travel in discomfort the 5 or so miles to Gala and back I elected to take the car.

Now, normally, I listen to Radio Scotland on my commute to and from my office and so I found myself in the company of Kaye Adams and her programme "Call Kaye". Given the amount by which we fund our BBC I do wish they would leave the lowest common denominator stuff to the likes of TalkSport or similar. Do we not deserve or merit something a little more informative than this, what I might unkindly describe as, drivel? As you might gather, I don't normally listen to it, thankfully.

To be fair, I have nothing personal against Kaye but she strikes me as being a bit like our very own Jeremy Paxman or Jeremy Vine. You know exactly where she stands on any given topic. I think this is wrong whether it be Kaye or anyone else who presents on our BBC. She comes across as being anti-Tory as evidenced by the furore she caused when she suggested that Boris Johnson should "p*** off back to boarding school" (forgetting that she, herself, was educated at one such establishment!) and, to my ears at least, never fails to show her contempt and disdain for anything and everything to do with the possibility of Scottish Independence. Sadly, this is only going to become more common at our BBC as we approach the Autumn of 2014.

To return to the timetable, the initial part of today's phone-in was about Tommy Sheridan, newly released from prison, and whether he would "split the Independence vote" and go hammer and tongs with a raging and furious Alex Salmond by promoting, in Kaye's own words, the People's Republic of Escocia. How can you split the vote? It's like splitting the Clydebank support into two at a football match with one group behind one goal and the other group at the opposite end. Both sets of fans still support the mighty Bankies so her point was, at best, poorly made. What she meant to propose was that some might switch their allegiance to the Union whilst others might simply not vote at all.

I will be honest and state that I don't particularly like Tommy but he has undeniably been a charismatic presence in Scottish politics since the 1980's and has just as much right as anyone else to voice his opinion on Scotland's future. Unlike myself, though, he commands a certain amount of publicity and media interest and so will be a man we hear from often as time progresses whether we like it or not. Now I don't know whether he will affect the vote in any way but I would be more than interested to see him in a TV studio debating alongside Nicola Sturgeon and Lesley Riddoch against Johann Lamont, Willie Rennie and Ruth Davidson. Sheridan vs Lamont, who wins? You decide. Personally, I have absolutely no objection to Tommy Sheridan vocally calling for Scottish Independence although I recognise that others will hold the opposite view.

Bear with me, I am coming to the point! On the self same "Our BBC Radio Scotland" the issue of welfare cuts made the news last week and Good Morning Scotland interviewed the SNP's Westminster Work and Pensions spokesperson, Dr Eilidh Whiteford MP, on her feelings regarding Conservative proposals to slash the UK's welfare budget and, after the usual increasingly common and rude interruptions, the presenter went down the Call Kaye route. "What will the amount of child benefit be in an Independent Scotland?", "Will an Independent Scotland have universal child benefit?" in pretty much the same way as callers to Kaye's programme described a vote for Independence as being the immediate proclamation of Tommy Sheridan as President.

Now I can fully appreciate why it suits the likes of the (our) BBC and Kaye Adams to encourage this nonsense but, really, do they think for a minute that we are completely stupid? I read the foreword to the Scottish Government's consultation paper last night and quote:

"Much of what Scotland will be like the day after independence will be similar to the day before: people will go to work, pensions and benefits will be collected, children will go out to play and life will be as normal. What independence will mean is that decisions about what happens in Scotland and for Scotland are taken by the people who care most about Scotland."

What Eilidh ought to have replied on GMS was along the lines of: "After Independence, welfare payments will be exactly the same as they are on the day of Independence. As time goes on, however, I think it undoubtedly the case that an Independent Scotland will administer welfare and benefits altogether more fairly than will be the case within the rest of the UK. The amounts and qualifying criteria will be for the elected Government of Scotland to decide as the months and years go by."

Come the big day in 2014, people will be voting purely and simply on a priciple. Would you rather Scotland governed itself or would you prefer to be governed from London? Tommy Sheridan won't be President the day after. Alex Salmond will only be First Minister until the next scheduled election reappoints an SNP Government or chooses one of a different poltical persuasion. Very little will change for quite some time. A yes vote will, I think, make one massive difference. We, as a nation, will be happier, more confident and our heads will suddenly be held higher. The rest will take care of itself with Scotland and the remainder of the UK gradually moving in slightly different directions. Only through time will the differences become more and more noticeable. Scotland is, though, more likely to be a fair and equal society than the UK will ever be. I have not voted for a Conservative, Liberal Democrat coalition and so I will be voting yes.

The point of all of the above is to basically call on the BBC and BBC Scotland in particular to raise their game. Remove the inbuilt bias against Scottish Independence that is apparent within their newsrooms and demand that their presenters and commentators take a strictly neutral perspective. I am not calling for bias the other way, let me make that perfectly clear. So, my BBC, when you next discuss the serious matter of Scottish Independence can we trust that the SNP might possibly be represented in the studio? Can we hold out any hope that it will not be the usual three Unionistas against one Independence supporter that you so cherish? Let's be brutally honest here, how much airtime do the "Scottish" Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties really deserve on tv and radio in Scotland? Sadly, I won't hold my breath.

Meanwhile, after my haircut, I drove home to hear Call Kaye thank all the callers and introduce the next discussion. "Will an Independent Scotland result in conflict in Northern Ireland?" and am now going to B and Q for a brick wall to hit my head off.

Toodle oo the noo!