LIKE many in the Yes movement very concerned about the trashing of what passes for democracy in the UK, I am increasingly frustrated that we are not out and about actively campaigning for a Yes vote whenever that may come. That’s not to say there is no activity at all, just nothing co-ordinated outside the main indy rallies which are ignored by 99.9% of the Unionist-controlled media.
That said, I believe and sincerely hope that Nicola’s approach to date is part of a bigger strategy.
Imagine if Nicola was pushing the indyref2 message hard right now. The Unionist media would be in overdrive saying that Nicola wants more division, more strife at a time when the UK needs stability and unity. By not playing into their hands, Nicola has denied them that opportunity.
They are genuinely hard pressed to be able to spin that line when Nicola is quite clearly the only credible, statesman-like politician in the UK offering sensible solutions to prevent a meltdown of the UK economy for everyone in these islands.
In the meantime, the Tories are causing so much chaos that the Tory party itself is in the process of imploding, whilst in Scotland the by-and-large better informed electorate are moving decisively towards supporting Scottish independence.
The only potential problem with Nicola’s approach is that it assumes the UK will play by the accepted norms of a democracy when clearly they won’t. I am sure Nicola and her strategists have already considered that Boris could simply shut down Holyrood.
What then?
I would hope if that were to happen, the majority indy parties at Holyrood would ignore a shutdown of democracy here and the Scottish Parliament would continue to sit in defiance of any orders from London. Police Scotland – who are under the jurisdiction of the Scottish, not Westminster Government – should be instructed to protect the parliament against any moves by Boris’s henchmen to shut it down and the Scottish Government should formerly ask the EU to recognise Scotland as a legitimate independent state along with countries like Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.
My guess is that this process is already well underway, which is why the UK Government has attempted to silence Scotland’s voice in Europe by imposing a ban on Scottish politicians and civil servants going there – which I am glad to see is being ignored.
This is the end game now. The UK is finished.
Peter Jeal
Dalbeattie
IF, as it seems, Boris Johnson is heading full-tilt towards a General Election, what would the SNP hope to get out of this? Surely it is no longer enough just to be “stronger for Scotland”, and putting Jeremy Corbyn into No 10 is hardly the action of a party intent on leaving Westminster.
While the party leadership don’t appear to be keen on “Plan B”, I would urge them at least to give it serious thought. Any election can stand as a proxy referendum if the policy is clear enough. A 50% vote could mandate the Scottish Parliament to take the necessary powers to keep us at least in the single market, without at this stage formally seceding from the UK.
Though it might be difficult to achieve 50% support (in the 2015 landslide the SNP only just did so), a more focused policy objective than simply “being an independent country” might be enough to do it.
Any Brexit will be extremely bad for us. Even the fishing industry, so keen on Brext, is not immune, as Spain will make continued access a condition of a trade deal. A secure Johnson government will be right-wing, populist and xenophobic, everything we reject as an inclusive society.
We cannot solve England’s Brexit dilemma, but we can get away from the nonsense of Westminster politics and preserve our place in Europe. We must take this chance.
Robert Fraser
Edinburgh
WITH shock and disbelief the British media are beginning to now realise and accept what is happening within the British government and the British establishment. However, the attitude of some towards those of us who have been warning about the potential of such a government gaining power at Westminster was treated with a patronising “we ken best”, or “this can’t happen in Britain”.
Someone who can articulate better than I ever will how I feel about British politics at the moment is the famous Tommy Douglas. Tommy was a Scottish-born Canadian Baptist minister who became a democratic socialist politician. He said: “Fascism begins the moment a ruling class, fearing the people may use their political democracy to gain economic democracy, begins to destroy political democracy in order to retain its power of exploitation and special privilege.”
The famous part, apart from the amount of good changes he introduced to Canada, is that he is Kiefer Sutherland’s grandad. I can’t recommend highly enough his work, and would recommend having a read about his life.
Philip Graham
via email
I MUST take issue with Christine Schofield’s letter (September 3) but only in part. I have no more time for the forms of pond life which currently disgrace Downing Street than does Ms Schofield.
It is the claim that our unelected monarch helped Boris into Downing Street. Firstly, it is usual for a sovereign to be unelected, and secondly the majority would seem to be content with a monarchy. As for the suggestion that Queen helped dear Boris to become PM, utter bilge. The Queen acted exactly as a constitutional monarch should. Personally I wish she had acted less constitutionally and told him to go away and play in the garden. That, however, is not how it works.
R Mill Irving
Gifford, East Lothian
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