LISTENING to the purportedly “strong and stable” Tory leader U-turn-May during her re-booted election manifesto re-run, one can only extrapolate the following: When she reads out the implications and ramifications of the three options, “deal, bad deal, no deal and walk away”, it’s clear that whatever is proposed, the deal will not be as all-encompassing as the “deal” the constituent parts of the UK have already within the EU.

That is a given. So we then focus in on the two polarities “bad deal” and “no deal”? What do they mean and what are the implications and wider ramifications?

As yet, we know nothing! We do not know the mindset of May because she keeps flipping on manifesto issues. That is indicative of subconscious chaos – a worrying state of mind. She keeps trying to convince herself she is “strong and stable” by constantly repeating the same phrase.

Looking closer, however, the minutiae of what actually constitutes “a good deal” and a “bad deal” are never voiced. The word Brexit is just a catch all term.

At what point a “walk away” will be determined in a “no deal” is also absent.

The fact that Brexit is a two-stage process is also an additional complicating factor.

We negotiate an exit and then renegotiate a new relationship. Or, as is threatened by May and Davis, we storm out without negotiating a phased exit. Stage one, already indicated by EU chief negotiator Michael Barnier on the EU website Article 50, is open and transparent for all to see.

May terms this “a hardened stance by the EU”. Strange, when one is giving up a membership, one no longer can have the benefits of membership. She should know that: she campaigned for remain and warned of the consequences!

On becoming PM her first U-turn was to champion Brexit.

All she could say was “Brexit means Brexit”.

There is no point in May bleating about the “bad” EU.

It was her predecessor, David Cameron, got the Tories into this mess, and the country! We Scots voted to remain, yet are being, again, hampered by the remainder of the UK.

One gets the impression May, if elected, will indeed walk away from any deal and blame the EU for not surrendering to “Westminster’s entitlement” to get its own way.

That is why she is now laying out the ground saying we need a good deal to safeguard the NHS etc.

Against the background of cuts in social spending, the rise in the annual deficit and the national debt reaching almost two trillion, it would seem that the austerity-driven Tory No 10 under Cameron and his inheritor, May, have been making a hash of things despite EU membership benefits.

Even a next best deal will never be as good as membership of the EU. Maygeddon may be just round the corner!
John Edgar
Blackford

TO my amazement I find myself agreeing with Theresa May on something! Now is not the time, as she says, for the referendum on Scottish independence.

Of course, this is a blinding statement of the obvious kind and one, incidentally, she and Nicola Sturgeon also agree on. The time for the next Scottish referendum is once the terms of Britain’s departure from the EU are known and their implications understood.

Then the voters of Scotland will be able to make a reasoned and informed judgment about Scotland’s future role in the world.

When that will be, no one knows for sure, least of all Mrs May.

Peter Craigie Edinburgh

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Corbyn’s manifesto may attract but best bet is still SNP

IN recent elections, pro-indy Scottish socialists may have hesitantly voted SNP to take us further towards independence. But Corbyn’s radical manifesto has brought a challenge to the SNP.

Corbyn has included a number of policies that would be attractive. But for pro-indy Socialists, the best option is to vote SNP.

Scottish Labour is not Corbyn’s Labour. Only 20 of the Labour candidates in Scotland are known Corbynites. We can’t be fooled into thinking Scottish Labour have changed. I’ve often said that most of the Corbynites in Scotland are in the SNP. For many SNP members, independence is the route to a socialist Scotland that just isn’t realistic in the long-term while we stay in the UK.

While the SNP may not be to the complete liking to pro-indy socialists, the policies they agree with are often overlooked or taken for granted. Opposing austerity and nuclear weapons on the Clyde, increased council house building, redistribution of wealth through a 50p tax rate, a welfare system built on dignity and respect, triple-locked pensions, opposition to foreign intervention, community empowerment, to name but a few.

And Corbyn hasn’t changed Labour policy completely. Labour doesn’t respect Scotland’s will to rid us of Trident nukes on the Clyde. They don’t respect the sovereignty of the Scottish Parliament to hold a second independence referendum. They don’t respect our democratic rights to decide our future.

In any case, Corbyn isn’t going to be around forever. The Blairite wing of Labour are already sharpening their knives preparing for June 9 or a future election. If socialists in Labour win the civil war again, while we remain in the UK we will always be subject to Tory governments we don’t vote for. Corbyn is for five years. Independence is forever. We can’t ignore the fact that we are at yet another critical juncture. And the only way Corbyn would be open to discussions over Scotref is if there is a strong SNP voice sent to Westminster.

As a party that can only win 59 seats, the SNP has to work with other parties to greatly impact UK policy. Realistically, SNP MPs will always back a Labour government over a Tory one. We’ve already seen this with olive branches being extended by SNP council groups to Labour across Scotland only for Labour to strike deals with Tories.

Given that the Scottish vote has only affected the outcome of UK elections a handful of times in the past 100 years, what happens in rUK will ultimately decide who sits in government. SNP MPs will give a uniquely Scottish voice whether that is in opposition or through backing a Labour minority government.

A Labour-SNP supply and demand deal would give the perfect mix of radical progressive policies, many of which are shared between the parties, while securing a uniquely Scottish voice and Scotref.

The only way to do that is for pro-indy socialists in Scotland to vote SNP and for us all to cross our fingers for the rest of the UK.
Rory Steel
SNP Youth National Vice Convener

EVERYONE I have spoken to who believes “Scotland doesn’t want independence” has also not read Andy Wightman’s book entitled The Poor Had No Lawyers: Who Owns Scotland (And How They Got It).

I am writing to encourage everyone who loves Scotland and has not yet read this book to get a copy and read it!

Wightman has compiled a readable, deeply researched, and utterly astounding record of how things got as they are between Westminster and Scotland; why things such as Scottish land reform and confusing election rules are still not sorted; and how deeply the deceits involved actually run. It’s not just about land reform, it’s about interests that remain hell-bent on short-circuiting Scottish sovereignty over itself. The information here must be widely known before any informed decisions can take place. Until then, Westminster will remain incapable of doing anything that truly prioritises Scotland’s best interest. At the moment I can’t see how anything short of independence can give Scotland a fighting chance to realise its potential. I’d like to think that’s not true, but things just keep proving it so. Continuing to let Westminster set agendas, move goalposts, and rubbish Scotland’s efforts for change just wastes Holyrood’s time.

Please read this book!
Elizabeth Marriott
Moray