For some nationalist protagonists this was typical Old Etonian\/Bullingdon Club arrogance from an unelected peer – and on a par with moves to rule the Gender Recognition Reform bill<\/a> ultra vires through a Section 35 Order or grab power over devolved policy areas via the post-Brexit Internal Market Act<\/a>. But that\u2019s a hyperbolic reaction as others pointed out:<\/p>\n Of course, the agreements here are non-binding protocols and this all amounts to game-playing. The bigger points are whether the Scottish Government should simply relocate to its own offices in those (nine) capitals where it has hubs, including Beijing and Washington, and whether it is developing a distinct foreign policy that undermines the UK\u2019s (a reserved power).<\/p>\n Some sage words from our colleague Kirsty Hughes on independent foreign hubs: “The UK Government would demand information on, and attendance at meetings. That’s not necessarily unreasonable. There’s plenty of coordination from German regional offices to federal government and embassies for example,” she told The Herald. <\/a>What’s more, she adds, they\u2019re unaffordable right now.<\/p>\n Equally, apart from on Brexit, there\u2019s little evidence the Scottish Government is seriously trying to damage UK foreign policy by developing its own. Yes, it is pushing for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza inter alia<\/em> when the UK is not but it has no real voice here. The real core of its nascent foreign policy – see the recent 60-page report<\/a> on An independent Scotland in the EU – is rejoining the EU and even that isn\u2019t fully formed. Here, too, absent independence, it cannot deliver.<\/p>\n Nor can it repeal the Internal Market Act despite the recent vote by MSPs to do just that. This is part of what some academics call \u201cproto-\u201c as opposed to \u201cpara-diplomacy.” <\/a>The former is the use of \u2019soft power\u2019 in external relations, including cultural links, while the latter is pre-figuring a fully-fledged foreign policy. These academics argue: “Rather than producing the results these governments want, namely to secure significant international support for secessionist claims, they are much more likely to lead to international isolation, with consequent economic, social and political costs.”<\/p>\n Back to Cameron. A few days ago the UK foreign secretary joined forces with his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, to call for a \u201csustainable ceasefire\u201d<\/a> in Gaza – one repeated (with nuances: \u201cimmediate and durable”) by their French colleague, Catherine Colonna. Leaving to one side Rishi Sunak\u2019s ill-judged flirtation with Italy\u2019s far right premier Georgia Meloni, the return of the Big Three to lead European foreign and security policy will increasingly be the order of the day.<\/p>\n Consider the geo-political landscape. There is a growing likelihood of a renewed term in the White House for Donald Trump, signalling a return to protectionist trade policies and, critically, a potential threat to the stability of Nato along with a pro-Putin tilt and abandonment of Ukraine. That alone poses a huge dilemma for the UK which, in recent years, has adopted a servile pro-US position in foreign affairs (all the while dressing this up as Global Britain). The Middle East war and the continuing military threat, including to Taiwan, posed by the Chinese will also propel the UK closer to the EU\/Europe.<\/p>\n This greater closeness will obviously be stronger under a Labour government in Westminster. There\u2019s no suggestion Starmer and Lammy will openly advocate Rejoin but \u201cla force des choses<\/em>\u201d will propel them towards more frequent joint foreign policy steps with Brussels – just when the EU as such is adopting a greater role through the common foreign and security policy and, above all, defence. Assuming the Far Right advance can be contained at next June\u2019s European elections, this process is likely to expand as the Russian war in Ukraine turns into huge offensive.<\/p>\n The phrase \u201csubstate\u201d is demeaning but accurate – as pro-European Scots have learned bitterly in the post-Brexit years. That won\u2019t change this side of independence – if let alone it ever comes. In the meantime, rather than actively seeking hurt and grievance, we should encourage our fellow Brits to rebuild and extend relations with Europe – and wholeheartedly join that effort.<\/p>\n Featured and secondary image of Humza Yousaf with the Jordanian ambassador and of Angus Roibertson via Scottish Government flickr photostream CC BY 2.0 DEED<\/a><\/p>\n See also on this site: Fraser Cameron, A very Scottish foreign policy<\/a>; Colin Imrie, An<\/a> independent Scottish foreign policy; <\/a>Elsewhere: Ben Martill, Britain and Europe after Ukraine, RSE<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Forget David Cameron\u2019s muscular unionism and Humza Yousaf\u2019s sense of grievance: Scottish and UK foreign policy must go through Europe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[421],"tags":[122,36],"class_list":["post-15778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-brexit","tag-scottish-government"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15778"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18475,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15778\/revisions\/18475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Screenshot-2023-12-17-at-10.33.25-e1703003766285.png\")
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<\/a><\/p>\nA European future for Scotland – and the UK<\/h2>\n