AS one of the six SNP EU candidates I was out chapping doors and campaigning across Scotland. There were a things that came through really clear when speaking to voters.
One certainly was that the possibility of a Boris Johnson premiership along with everything else was making them consider independence again.
While the idea of Boris Johnson is something that rightfully horrifies any right minded person, it is about more than just him. For one, any of the Tory leadership candidates would be utterly awful.
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And this is the heart of the issue and the reason we in the SNP believe so strongly that Scotland should be independent. Clearly we never voted to be governed by this shower of Tory incompetents or for Brexit. But while we are part of the UK Scotland doesn’t get what it votes for. We are just a passenger.
A prime minister Boris Johnson would just be highlighting the democratic deficit that has been here all along.
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That sense of apathy we have seen since 2017 is gradually being replaced with a sense of anger. Anger that politics in Westminster has completely broken down and that Scotland’s interests are being sidelined as a result. There were countless traditional Labour and Tory voters I spoke to who were lending their vote to the SNP, or in many cases, not even voting at all. Clearly, there comes a point where the situation we find ourselves in as a nation becomes too much for even the most dyed-in-the-wool British nationalist.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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