Gobierno escocés busca la independencia

"Seguir sin cambios ya no es una opción", afirmó Salmond en una rueda de prensa en Edimburgo.

SNP advocates independent Scotland

Scotland's National Party, the SNP, has set out plans for a referendum on independence from Britain. Sixty percent of Scotland's parliamentarians, though, oppose independence.

This report from Jon Devitt:

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The leader of the Scottish National Party, Alex Salmond, has long advocated independence but is also realistic. He holds the reins of power as First Minister in the Scottish parliament, but his party does not have a majority. So he can use his position to advocate major constitutional changes in the knowledge that the most radical proposals won't be accepted. Mr Salmond's strategy is to start, what he calls, a 'national conversation'.

SALMOND: 'Divergent views are the very essence of democracy; robust debate is part of what makes us Scottish. The exchanges, the premises and the debate must be passionate - how else could it be in Scotland? But let these contributions be based on fact, reason, logic, rather than smears, allegations or misinformation. Scotland deserves no less.'

From Mr Salmond's point of view this strategy rather neatly provides his opponents with a dilemma. The three main opposition parties all oppose independence, but they don't want to boycott a debate and there is support for some of the plans to increase the powers of the Scottish parliament which would form part of the discussions. Also, some of the SNP's opponents favour holding a referendum now when the opinion polls suggest support for independence is between thirty and forty per cent. A defeat for independence, they argue, would kill off the debate for a generation.

Jon Devitt, BBC

 Listen to the words

has long advocated
hace mucho tiempo que ha apoyado y defendido

holds the reins of power
tiene las riendas del poder

Divergent views
opiniones divergentes o tener más de un punto de vista

essence
(son la) esencia o es la característica central

robust debate
debate robusto y abierto

fact, reason, logic
(basados) en hechos, razones y lógica

smears
calumnias o tácticas de difamación

dilemma
dilema

to boycott
boicotear

a referendum
un referéndum

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