From insults to snubs, the Union has ceased to function in the interests of the people. No need for more referendums, Scotland should declare independence.
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling last week that Scotland has no authority over how it is governed, announced with the Tories EU Exit White Paper, the Tories have decreed that Scotland will never be permitted another opportunity to decide on who governs it. A stronger union may be given its very own point in Theresa Mayhem’s happy 12 points of ‘brexit’ plan but the Tory interpretation of a stronger union is clearly represented by a tighter grip from Westminster.
Whatever way you cut it, in 2015, Scotland voted overwhelmingly to break from the governance of Westminster. The SNP won 56 of 59 seats, that is a mandate of 95%. If you count votes rather than seats then the SNP lead over their nearest rival, Labour, was 1.4million to 700,000. The SNP had 100% more votes than their nearest ‘rival’. The matter was not even close. The UK will be dragged out of the EU by the Tories on a vote of 52% to 48% and that is described as ‘the will of the people’.
People have confused the Scottish move towards independence as a signal of support for the SNP, which is a mistake. The SNP have never been all that popular in Scotland and people aren’t probably that sold on independence, they are sick and tired of being subjected to the grubby regimes that dominate Westminster.
In the 2015 General Election the Tories chose to demonise Scottish voters and to stoke up the English nationalism that they had roused during the Scottish Independence Referendum. The Tories beat Labour with the stick that Labour’s leader was weak (because he couldn’t eat a sandwich properly) and that he would be bullied by the far more competent Nicola Sturgeon into conceding to Scottish interests over England’s interests. Labour’s error was to wilt under the gaze of English nationalism and to join the attack on the Scottish people. Miliband should have embraced the opportunity to work alongside the United Kingdom partners. A coalition with Scotland should not have been treated as a toxic entity but a reflection of mutual interests and Britain working for us all.
The Tories are excluding all but their own voices in making decisions for the people of the United Kingdom, something for which they have no mandate, elected as they were in 2015 with barely 25% of the votes from eligible British voters. Yet the Tories think they have the authority of a monarch and that Britain is theirs to reign over. Parts of England cannot secede from the country of England but Scotland can secede from the Union. It is not for these Tories to decide to dictate Scotland’s future, present or presence.
