As the referendum on independence for Scotland drew near, observers thought that a narrow ‘Yes’ majority might have been possible. In the vital final fortnight, English heavyweights brought pressure to bear insisting that the people of Scotland remain part of the United British Kingdom. Scots voters might well have resisted the urgings of English politicians, royalty and celebrities. Indeed, they might have even expected a backlash against the southern powerbrokers who were demonstrating precisely one reason that Scotland should want to be free of what is essentially outside interference. Unfortunately, the call of the outside banks and markets could not have been welcome, because their predictions can become self-fulfilling prophesies. There is a thin line between forecasting financial difficulties and making them happen.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott even had a say. That an avowed monarchist would advise the Scottish people to vote ‘No’ is hardly surprising. In the final analysis, there is a strong current of conservatism remaining in the British psyche, a conservatism which distrusts ordinary people and thwarts any process which allows them power. This aristocratic attitude is of course found in elites everywhere and the demonstrators in Hong Kong using their umbrellas to defend themselves against assault by security forces using various toxic sprays confronted the same anti-democratic reaction. Whether the elites have their power originally because of their birth into certain families or because of their membership of a dictatorial party, their disdain for the common people is the same.

These elites find it simple enough to act as spoilers. Spoiling progress is one of the easiest and most cynical games in town. In politics, the spoiler is the same class of operator as the football player sent out to negate the brilliance of an opponent’s attacking stars in any way available and sometimes by means forbidden such as fouling and causing injury. Such people are far from an adornment to football and spoil the game for everyone.

Spoiling is easy. You simply denigrate anyone suggesting change and improvements. You refuse to consider alternatives to how things have always been done. You take the easy and reliable routes of raising the fears of people who are unsure. You divide and rule. The fate of the referendum on an Australian republic was sealed well before the voting day. So too, it seems was the poll on Scotland’s future. So too perhaps, are attempts to halt the ravages of climate change by banning fossil fuels. This nonsense about trying to address the issues while ensuring that priority remains with economic development and employment is spoken by the same spoilers who think that a monarchy makes sense for Australians, that government from London is best for Scots and that the people of Hong Kong do not need the basic democratic principles of electoral equality.

When the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh opened in 1999, the nation was duly proud. I treasure the CD on which Sheena Wellington sings Robbie Burns’ classic ‘A Man’s A Man For All That’ to mark the opening. The emotion is real. Both head and heart are engaged in this celebration of people realising that it is possible to make their own destiny rather than let others determine it for them. One of Burns’ verses runs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anYHBwOF2cY

‘What though on hamely fare we dine
Wear hodden grey an a that?
Gie fools their silks and knaves their wine –
A man’s a man for a that
For a that an a that
Their tinsel show an a that
The honest man though e’er sae puir
Is king o men for a that.’

Australia’s equivalent to ‘A Man’s A Man’ is probably ‘Waltzing Matilda’. It is impossible to imagine it being sung with genuine gusto by conservatives and spoilers. They remain furtive and bitter, despite their so-called victories. Human progress has very few agreed markers. Equality and autonomy are surely signs of development towards something higher. Those who reject these qualities must live with their own contradictions.

In the wake of the defeat of the referendum on Scottish independence, promises of compromise levels of autonomy have been proven false. The doubters who chose to hope that Britain would condescend to allow Scotland a lower, safer level of self-determination have been proven cowardly. Perhaps another Burns song ‘Parcel of Rogues’ would be an appropriate way to recognise them. Burns’ lyrics end:

“O would ere I had seen the day
That Treason thus could sell us
My auld grey head had lain in clay
Wi Bruce and loyal Wallace!
But pith and power, till my last hour
I’ll mak this declaration:
“We’re bought and sold for English gold”
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!”

Cynical politicians have long threatened to change the fundamental nature of our values. Fortunately, there are many people still who resist the urges to greed and selfishness and automatic distrust of other folk. Regardless of the forms taken by governments, people of goodwill will continue to be a source of strength and encouragement.

A former academic, Tony Smith has written extensively on a wide range of subjects as diverse as folk music and foreign policy issues in the Australian Review of Public Affairs, the Journal of Australian Studies Review of Books, Overland, the Australian Quarterly, Eureka Street, Online Opinion and Unleashed.