YESTERDAY morning Boris Johnson tweeted triumphantly: “We’ve got a great new deal that takes back control.” He was of course referring to the agreement cobbled together by his government and the EU to facilitate the UK’s departure.
Had the Prime Minister stopped for just a moment and assessed the situation he may just have realised that all he has done is ensure that his bluff and bluster will collide head on with reality quicker than it otherwise might have.
It looks likely that his deal will be dismissed almost out of hand by the House of Commons at its super Saturday session tomorrow.
Regardless of the outcome of that vote, and as has been the case since the EU referendum took place in 2016, there has been absolutely no acknowledgement from the UK Government that the people of Scotland, and indeed the people of Northern Ireland, voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU.
Boris Johnson continues to show the same contempt to the people of Scotland that epitomised his predecessor Theresa May’s time in office. The Tories have rebuffed all attempts at compromise and fatally undermined the devolution settlement by retrospectively cutting the powers of the Scottish Parliament.
And while his alleged “charm” seems to be winning him some admirers among the Westminster commentariat, it certainly isn’t persuading the people of Scotland that he has our interests at heart.
What frustrates me most about this entire mess is the disregard that has been shown to our EU national friends and neighbours over the past three and a half years.
As an MSP representing our diverse capital city, I am sadly all too aware of the pressure that many of my constituents have been put under, with little or no information provided about what future rights they will have, or whether they will even be allowed to remain – a situation that I know has been reflected across the country.
This situation has been cynically manipulated by Brexit proponents like Johnson, Michael Gove and Jacob Rees-Mogg whose outrageous language has only added to the fear felt by those who have been left in the lurch for years, unable to plan for their future.
Freedom of movement is the single greatest achievement of the European Union. For a continent that was, for centuries, at war with itself to not only come together in partnership, but to allow their peoples to move freely across and between nations, is a model that I would like to see emulated across the world.
Unfortunately, those who promote Brexit want to strip us of this right, and so many others, in some vain attempt to pander to the xenophobia perpetuated in much of the mainstream tabloid press. I believe we can do better; we can create an open and welcoming Scotland that sits at the heart of an open and welcoming EU. That will mean challenging our EU colleagues at times too!
It’s clear that a growing majority of Scots want absolutely nothing to do with Boris Johnson’s Brexit Britain. That’s why Greens believe that the people of Scotland must now be given a say over the future direction of our country; do we want to be an independent European country or do we want to be shackled to Johnson’s little England?
Let’s not forget that in 2014 Ruth Davidson, Johann Lamont, and Willie Rennie – Better Together – told us all that voting No was the process to safeguard our European future. That was a lie, and those who told it should at the very least apologise for it.
The only way that Scotland can remain in the EU is to take our destiny into our own hands by becoming an independent country. The results of the 2014 and 2016 referendums simply cannot be reconciled and, particularly given the chaos that has engulfed us since, it would be outrageous for any Prime Minister to seek to defy the will of the people.
At the 2016 Holyrood election a majority of pro-independence MSPs were elected. In 2017 we voted to instruct the First Minister to request an order under Section 30 of the Scotland Act to allow the Scottish Parliament to legislate for an independence referendum, and at the weekend the First Minister indicated she would make this request in the coming weeks.
Scotland did not vote for Brexit and we do not want it because we know that it would be catastrophic to the social and economic fabric of our country, regardless of how it is enacted.
The people have been clear, our Parliament has been clear. It’s time for Scotland to regain its place as an independent European nation.
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Callum Baird, Editor of The National
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