TODAY in Glasgow there is a march and rally for independence. Just a couple of months ago Scottish independence was a distant dream, and I would have said that it would take us years in order to slowly make the case for another referendum. Over the space of a few weeks, the Conservative and Unionist party has created a situation conducive to Scottish independence that it would have taken the independence movement years to build, and it happened without supporters of independence having to lift as much as an eyebrow. I always believed that the Union would be destroyed by the Unionists themselves, I just never expected it to happen so quickly.
A march and rally will not bring about independence but what it will do is to send a signal, to tell those who are campaigning in their communities around the country that they are not alone, that they are part of a national movement. It puts a lie to the Unionist claim that there is no appetite in Scotland for another independence referendum.
The same shrill voices tell us from their pettit lips that Scotland has already had its referendum. I do not recall the question on the ballot paper in 2014 being “Do you give Westminster carte blanche to do what it wants and for the Union to continue for all eternity irrespective of the circumstances?” But it seems that our Conservative government and its buffalo-riding fellow travellers in Scotland believe that is what the question asked. They are wrong. Scotland’s support for remaining in the Union was conditional. It rested upon the promises and commitments that those Unionist parties made in order to secure a No vote. And when Scotland voted overwhelmingly for the SNP in the Westminster General Election just eight months later, we put them on notice that Scotland expected them to fulfil the promises that they made to us.
That is precisely what the Unionist parties did not do. The Tories demand that the result of the 2014 referendum is respected — but they will not respect the promises they made in order to win a No vote. The Tories demand respect from a Scotland that they refuse to respect. Scotland will not respect those who show us no respect. Respect that is not mutual is not respect at all. It is a demand for blind obedience.
They promised that jobs would be safe in steelworks and tax offices, and those jobs have been lost. They promised that 13 Royal Navy ships would be built on the Clyde, then reduced the number to eight before postponing the decision indefinitely. They swore blind that the Royal Navy would never build ships abroad and now that is exactly what they are considering. They vowed to give Scotland the most powerful devolved parliament in the world, then neutered the already-weak proposals of the Smith Commission while the Scotland Secretary openly boasted that the new tweaks on tax were a trap for the Scottish parliament. They promised that Scotland would be a loved and valued partner within a family of nations, and they gave us Evel and reduced Scottish MPs to second-class status.
Then we got the biggest betrayal of all. Despite swearing blind that only a vote to remain in the UK could secure Scotland’s place in the European Union, the Tories held a referendum on EU membership in order to settle their own internal party problems. And as a consequence a Scotland which voted to remain in the EU by a far larger margin than it voted to remain in the UK is to be dragged out of the EU against its will. But Scotland will be fully involved in the decision-making process, say the cold-eyed liars of Westminster. What they mean is that we might be allowed some input in deciding what colour of dog leash they will use to drag us out.
It is bad enough that Scotland is subjected to long periods of Westminster governments that we did not vote for. There will be another General Election in a few years. But a Brexit vote is forever. It is not just for five years. If Scotland remains in the UK, the futures of our children and grandchildren will be defined and shaped by decisions made by Theresa May, Liam Fox and Boris Johnson. Decisions we have no voice in. Decisions we have no say in. Decisions we have no control over.
This is a historic moment. Scotland stands at a junction on the path of history. We can put on the dog leash and be dragged down the path of darkness, subject to the mercies of a Westminster that treats us as a source of resources and labour to be exploited and denigrated. Or we can choose the path of self-determination, and walk towards a destiny that we define for ourselves. Those of us at the rally in Glasgow are taking the first steps on that walk towards a future that Scotland creates for itself.
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