“Scotland, the Supreme Court says, cannot have a referendum without Westminster’s approval. But what the SNP, and others, put in their election manifestos is up to them. We’re on a path to a quasi-referendum. And Scotland will have its say.” Kirsty Hughes on the political aftermath of THAT ruling. Where do we go from here?
Scottish politics
Unhelpful clarifications on #indyref2
“The way is now open for the UK Government to say that there is no time or way for Scotland to exercise its acknowledged right of self-determination, for no other reason that it has the power to do so. As others have noted, this turns from one of consent to a union of (narrowly interpreted) law.” Michael Keating on Scottish self-determination and UK sovereignty in the light of the Supreme Court ruling.
A monetary straitjacket: Scottish Government economic plan for independence
“A Scottish currency is no guarantee that independence would see the country’s deeply embedded economic problems tackled. A monetarily sovereign independent government would still be perfectly capable of chronic mismanagement. But to have an independent country with a fighting chance of making even partial economic and social progress, monetary sovereignty is a pre-requisite. Another Scotland is still possible.”
Can muscular unionism save the Union?
“Muscular unionism didn’t work in Ireland in 1921 and there is no reason to expect it to work now. Ignoring the votes, and the people elected, in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, is not unionism. It’s imperialism.”
Scotland deserves better than two bad choices
The latest Building a New Scotland paper on the economy is being roasted – including by informed nationalists. Here a prominent unionist dissects a weak case. “Doubtless the SNP will argue all this is “Project Fear”. It really isn’t. It is the reality that flows from our underlying economic position.”
Labour’s revival puts SNP on the defensive
“The process of recovery has begun for Scottish Labour. It can now focus on winning back what Anas Sarwar describes as ‘soft SNP’ voters. This will not be plain sailing. The SNP remains a formidable campaign organisation…” Prof James Mitchell on how Labour’s revival has put the SNP on the defensive.
Sceptical Scot shuts up shop
The co-editors announce the closure of Sceptical Scot on its seventh anniversary….
What are Scotland’s real choices?
‘Clearly the political and institutional landscape has changed dramatically since 2014. One inescapable fact about any future debate on the economic case for Scottish independence is that the terrain – by which we mean the political, economic, social and cultural context – has shifted significantly.’
An empty Promise
Failure to deliver on the Promise was inevitable – families were outside the tent, no status quo was upturned, no institutional power challenged, no radical, practical plan emerged. Just a Promise to do better.
A Labour-SNP coalition is the answer to gridlock
“What Scotland needs is something similar: a Scottish Labour-SNP pact – probably after 2024 or 2026 – with or without the Greens to deliver social and economic modernisation, including the just transition, digital transformation and local government reform, plus constitutional change.”