HAD the United Kingdom been prevented from holding a referendum on withdrawal from the European Union or been advised that withdrawal could only take place according to rules effectively determined by the other EU member countries, besides vociferous claims of democratic outrage there might well have been rioting in the streets of England.
The Supreme Court judgment that the government elected by the people of Scotland cannot exercise its democratic mandate of conducting an advisory referendum is a significant setback for parliamentary democracy in Scotland and across the UK. For the UK Government now to continue to refuse a Section 30 order for the Sottish Government to conduct a second referendum based on the Edinburgh Agreement, especially as Northern Ireland has been granted the equivalent “privilege” every seven years, makes a mockery of so-called UK democracy.
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In the meantime, while some seem to expect the person who failed over the infamous “Vow” to come up with the extensive constitutional changes that would satisfy at least half of the population, most people know this is for the birds.
Others simply stick their heads in the sand and naively, disingenuously, hypocritically or duplicitously parrot statements such as that calls for independence should now be shelved, you’ve had your once-in-a-generation vote (ignoring the misleading statements and undelivered promises as well as the trading and staffing catastrophes brought about through leaving the EU), the Scottish Government should stop wasting time and money pursuing independence (while tens of billions of pounds are lost due to the UK Government “Hard Brexit”, cronyism and incompetence) and should focus on the day job (while the Scottish NHS consistently outperforms the NHS in England and Wales and Scotland’s holistic approach to education is praised around the world).
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Perhaps understandably given much media reporting, many pro-Union supporters still seem to believe that the vast majority of people in Scotland do not want independence. This really is deluded thinking as although less than 50% were convinced that a referendum should be conducted next year, recent polls have shown there is majority support for self-determination and Wednesday’s poll for Channel 4 News indicated that 51% of respondents would vote for the SNP in the next General Election if their “vote was to be used as a mandate to negotiate for independence”, while 15% were effectively undecided.
Resolution of the constitutional question is critical to the future governance of Scotland and it is now imperative that a Section 30 order be granted for a referendum or for the UK Government to declare that it will accept the decision of 50% plus one or more of the population if they vote for parties with a manifesto pledge to negotiate for independence, either in a Holyrood or Westminster election.
World history teaches us that government procrastination on allowing a colony, never mind a nation, to express its fundamental right to self-determination is likely to lead to political turmoil and possibly civil strife, a dire situation which must be averted.
Stan Grodynski
Longniddry, East Lothian
THE UK Supreme Court has ruled that Scotland is not a colony, so what is it?
Scotland is an independent country that suspended its own parliament when it joined a voluntary union. How do we reconvene our own parliament?
John Jamieson
South Queensferry
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