About my blog

My name is Eilif and I am of a mixed English-Norwegian background. I was born in Oxford and grew up mostly in Southwest Scotland where I still live and write this blog. For those reasons I consider myself English first although I still visit my holiday cottage in Sweden occasionally which puts me back in touch with my Scandinavian background.

The point with this blog is to express my views as a supporter of independence for Scotland as well as a handful of other matters. The people voting Yes in September 2014 are diverse in their reasons behind their support and vision for an independent Scotland. While others have more radical views I am in many ways a traditionalist. I support retaining the monarchy in an independent Scotland albeit with the potential for a diverging line. I support retaining the pound sterling, certainly in the short term, as it makes no sense to rush into adopting a new currency and any change has to be through consulting the public in a referendum. Other ideas will materialise as the blog progresses between now and Referendum Day. I also advocate the word British as an adjective for the island of Great Britain and for the relationship between England and Scotland regardless of the constitution.

The blog is called Plus428 because +428 is one of the international dialling codes that would be available for Scotland to adopt upon independence. Internationalism is a cornerstone of my support for independence because I have such a mixed heritage so an international dialling code means other countries communicating with Scotland. As three-digit numbers go, 428 happens to be a personal favourite!