Opinion Piece – Solon Scotland – Political Commentator

The latest classic we have is Conservative Brexit MP Mark Francois who is quoting the war and not bowing down to Germans…yes this is an exact quote. “My father was a D-Day veteran, he never submitted to bullying by any German. Neither will his son”. https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1088814152037138435

How many times will we hear Government ministers like Liam Fox claim that leaving the EU will lead to a brave new world of the UK leading the economic world and securing new trade deals? That is rhetoric from the days of the Commonwealth and British Empire from hundreds of years ago. It is gone but they choose to promote that as a way of glorifying the GREAT BRITAIN project. THIS IS HISTORY NOT MODERN DAY FACT. We live in a world of Globalization where we are one of the many, not the leader of the many. If you want to get really harsh about British History, the British Empire and Commonwealth was built on the oppression of the indigenous people in countries all over the world. It was based on class and race ideas of supremacy. It has also been whitewashed from being promoted in mainstream British History. Affluent Scots also played a role in that, but as in the 1707 Act of Union ordinary people had little power, with money and privilege leading the way. ….and yes these two areas are another whole debate ripe for great twitter insulting and abuse!!!

Back in the present however, the UK is leaving the EU – that is a fact as long as the current Conservative Government is in power. The question is how it finally manages that leaving process, the exact date it occurs and what form the future deal and relationship with the EU takes.

As it stands, based on what exists now as fact, the Government say the UK is leaving with or without a deal. (That is not to say that brexit couldnt collapse or that a change of government/government policy is impossible. Economic implosion could even yet affect brexit since we are still in a ‘phoney war’. (If you think the negotiation period has been a shambles, wait till you see the actual implementation period?…An extension to the leave date is also obviously a strong possibility but that is still a precursor to “we are leaving, the people have spoken”).

Why the rhetoric of a marginal 52-48% is so strong is another whole analysis! The likeliest answer to that is, it is convenient for those in power who have always wanted to break ties with the EU irrespective of economic setbacks. The other factor is undoubtedly those again in power who seek to drastically curb and control immigration from the EU.

How that solves the fact that more people arrive in the UK from outside the EU is another debate, yes on top of the other, other debates!

Migration Figures 29/11/18: https://news.sky.com/story/non-eu-migration-to-uk-highest-for-14-years-but-eu-migration-slows-11566853

THE GOVERNMENTS OWN ECONOMIC ANAYSIS CONFIRMS ALL FORMS OF BREXIT WILL CAUSE AN ECONOMIC HIT TO THE UK ECONOMY

Brexit will make UK worse off, government forecasts warn: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-46366162

Their is no brexit without an economic loss, the worst losses are obviously under no deal.
If people in power or in the country at large believe in brexit as a retaking of power then fine if that is your reasoning, we live in a democracy, but why are the Government selling it as some kind of economic utopia – that is lies! Why are you selling it as Rule Britannia – why would the UK have more rights on the way europe and the world trades as opposed to other nations?

Lastly, from Scotlands’ postion and the Scottish Governments more aptly, the time is coming when a definitive stance on brexit must be made, otherwise the danger is brexit will rankle on in debate for years and people will become apathetic and Scotland will just sit in the backseat to wherever the driver takes us.

Scotland voted to remain in the EU. Scotland is still a country in its own right. The UK is technically not a nation, it is made up of 4 nations in a union. To use the claim that we voted as the UK means to refute the fact that Scotland is a country? It is also a country with a parliament and that parliament has a duty to serve its electorate. The democratic majority in Scotland voted to remain in the EU at massively higher numbers than in the UK as whole. if the claim is that the figure is irrelevant in a UK vote then the next step is abandoning the Scottish Parliament as meaningless?

In many peoples’ opinion in Scotland the time has passed to go along with the brexit journey further. The daily arguments and rhetoric are embarrassing and a political fiasco.

It is perhaps time for the Scottish Government to lay the cards on the table – stick or fold. The process towards a new Scottish Independence Referendum must be announced. That doesnt even necessarily mean saying straight away about the date, since the UK Government will presumably need to authorise it and will most likely stall. The Scottish Government and Parliament should however state its postion on record…if it is the postion that Scotland must remain in the EU full stop as a result of the economic effects then you have to state ‘the only way that this is possible is for independence and that is what we recommend to the Scotiish People as the elected Government of Scotland. The UK is leaving the EU and we are now powerless to stop that position as the Government of the UK have committed to Brexit’.

Whether Independence is then afforded a referendum and voted on is for future debate, that is democracy, but the process must be formally initiated, otherwise the independence position may become embroiled in the very same Brexit Never Ending Story?

There has abeen a cataclysmic change of circumstances since the 2014 indy ref – Scotland is being removed from the EU – Scotland did not vote for that position in 2014 and has reaffirmed that in subsequent elections to the Scottish and UK Parliaments.

..and one final view. It is highly probable that more than 50% of Scots believe in an Independent Scotland controlling its own affairs, but that is not the same as getting people to vote for it, that is why the figures stand at around 45-55. People need to be confident to change if they are not in the yes camp, they need to be given a reason to support it and to vote for it, they need to be given confidence.

The safety you know is the status quo, irrespective of how bad it is performing for many in the middle ground, the unknown is to choose to remove from that and that is difficult for many people, particularly older people. The Scottish Government and Parliament need to start putting parliamentary statutes in place before a referendum date such as enshrining benefits and particularly retirement pension into law in a future independent Scotland. For example if Scotland was ever independent it should be enshrined in law that The UK Retirement Pension will be a legal right at the same rate or better as it would be in the uk for the rest of a person’s life.

I am free for more rambling…watch this space!!!

Why am I Called Solon Scotland you ask? That is my stage name, and Solon was a founding father of modern democracy in ancient Greece. Im no Expert on the subject though as I wasn’t there at the time!