THE Conservative Government’s consultation on the result of the EU referendum has gone well so far hasn’t it?
They tell us that Scotland is going to be fully involved, that Scotland’s desires are going to be respected, but what we’ve heard goes along the lines of, “Brexit means Brexit. All of the UK is going to leave the EU. Yes yes, we’re listening, and we’re waiting for you to say that you’re going to do what we tell you. You’ll have had your referendum, Scotland, and you’ll have had your consultation.”
What the Conservatives mean when they say that Scotland will be fully involved in the Brexit negotiations is that Scotland will fully comply with what the Conservatives decide to do. It’s like going to a restaurant and deciding that you want the penne arrabbiata only to be told that you’re going to get mouldy British bully beef and a boiled to death cabbage and a starter of stale dry cornflakes whether you like it or not. However you will be allowed to decide whether you want it served up on a Royal wedding commemorative plate, or one printed with quotes from Margaret Thatcher. There, happy now? You’re involved in the decision making process. Now eat your cereal.
Speaking on Thursday in the House of Commons, Attorney General Jeremy Wright insisted that all parts of the UK are going to be leaving the EU and said that Scotland has no veto over the process. The Attorney Jeremy was replying to a question from a Tory MP for Backwoodshire, who was concerned that the desire of England to sail off into a post imperial sunset where it pretends to itself that it can stand alone against the world might be frustrated by an obstructionist Scotland which would far rather live in the 21st century. Because it’s terribly unfair that a constituent part of the United Kingdom is forced to do things against its will by another constituent part of the United Kingdom, isn’t it. Oh, wait.
The Attorney Jeremy’s comments came just hours after Theresa May did another of her Thatcher the Early Years impressions and gave Scotland the waggy finger, informing us that any notion that Scotland can remain both a part of the UK and the EU was impractical. Chancellor of the Exchequer Phil “Alien Invasion” Hammond said much the same thing earlier last week. The top of the Tory party has now definitively frozen out any possibility of the so-called reverse Greenland.
The doors of choice are opening for Scotland in Europe, but they’re closing in the UK. It’s becoming clearer what sort of future awaits us within the UK, and it’s not pretty. The Labour party remains mired in its own internal confusions and disputes, and isn’t going to be in a fit state to pose as a credible alternative government any time soon.
The Tory lead in UK opinion polls has doubled since the EU referendum, so thanks for that Labour plotters. The Tories are going to own Brexit, and shape the UK outside the EU in their image. That’s not an image that Scotland can recognise as a reflection of itself.
The time is approaching for the Labour party and the LibDems in Scotland to deal with reality and make a stand. It’s all very well saying that you’d prefer Scotland to remain a member of both the UK and the EU. I’d quite like to have my own hair on my head and a washboard stomach, but it’s not going to happen. You have to make the best fist of the hand you’ve been dealt, and the choice facing Scotland now is a choice between independence and continuing EU membership, or leaving the EU and being an ignored province of a Tory-dominated austerity on steroids while Liam Fox, the Minister of State for Adam Werritty, makes trade deals that make TTIP look like a Jeremy Corbyn manifesto. That’s it. That’s the choice. The time for pretending it’s anything else is over.
It’s time for Labour and the LibDems in Scotland to take a long hard look in the mirror and reflect on reality. Do they want to be the parties of pleading with the Tories not to be quite so nasty while being incapable of stopping them? Or do they want to participate in the building of a Scotland where the values of social democracy and liberalism will be valued and respected?
Meanwhile the grassroots of 2014’s Yes campaign are getting ourselves organised. We’re already working on another Scottish summer of independence. We’re not waiting for the Scottish Government or the SNP to fire the starting pistol. This won’t be the SNP’s referendum, it will belong to the people of Scotland, self-organised, self-actuating and self-aware. We’re getting the indy band back together. Come and join us.
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Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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