A UK-WIDE EDUCATION SYSTEM WOULD MEAN GOVE IN CHARGE
Commenting on the speeches being delivered by Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown today - in which Mr Brown expressed support for a UK-wide education system Kenneth Gibson MSP said:
"In bizarrely arguing against having the Scottish education system, Gordon Brown makes the Yes case for us. If education was controlled by Westminster, not in the Scottish Parliament, Michael Gove would be deciding education policy for Scotland - I doubt if a single person in Scotland would want that, other than Gordon Brown. And students in Scotland would be paying £9,000 a year tuition fees as is the case south of the border, instead of enjoying the benefits of free education.
"We are better off taking decisions for Scotland in Scotland - and by becoming independent we can apply these benefits to the rest of our national life currently controlled by Westminster, including job-creation, getting rid of nuclear weapons, and representing ourselves in Europe.
"That is the real international outlook for young people and everyone in Scotland - instead of having our horizons limited by Westminster, which doesn't represent Scottish votes or our interests.
"The Yes campaign published a new poll today showing that only a third of people in Scotland trust the Westminster parties to deliver more powers - and no wonder, when Gordon Brown is praising an idea that would actually strip the Scottish Parliament of powers!
"We already know that three-times as many people in Scotland trust the Scottish Parliament, rather than Westminster, to make the right decisions for Scotland - and that is the essence of what a Yes vote is all about."
