By Equality Nation
The First Minister in a speech at Bute House outlined the democratic
case for Scotland’s right to choose its own future, ahead of the
publication of a paper titled Scotland’s Right to Choose. The paper can
be downloaded here.
The
First Minister said there were moments in history when it was important
to stand back from the day to day twists and turns of politics and
consider some fundamental questions and this was such a time for
Scotland.
The experience of the last three and a half
years had raised questions about how we see ourselves as a country and
our place in the world. It had raised questions about our voice and our
democracy. And about our future – what kind of country and society do we
want to be? At the heart of these questions is a belief held by almost
everyone in Scotland that we are a nation. No better and no worse than
any other – but an equal nation. And as a nation, our future – whatever
we choose it to be – must be in the hands of the people who live here.
The First Minister said we could choose to stay part of the Westminster
union or we could choose to be independent. But the choice must be ours.
She added that today, she was publishing the constitutional and
democratic case for Scotland having that choice.
The First
Minister said Scotland’s choice was “rooted in the principle of
self-determination, in the material change of circumstances since the
2014 exercise of that right, and in the democratic mandate that exists
for offering the choice afresh.”
In a voluntary
association of nations such as the UK, she said, it cannot be in the
interest of any part for our right to choose our own future to be
conditional, or time limited, or a one off. Nor was it right for it to
be over-ridden by a Prime Minister, or indeed a First Minister. It was a
fundamental right of self-determination.
“The ability
for Scotland to exercise that right now matters, because the alternative
is a future that we have rejected being imposed upon us. Scotland made
clear last week that it doesn’t want a Tory government, led by Boris
Johnson, taking us out of Europe and down a path we haven’t chosen.”
The
First Minister said that was the future we faced if we didn’t have the
opportunity to consider the alternative of independence – a very
different future to the one in prospect when Scotland voted No to
independence in 2014.
“There has been a material change in circumstances. There is also a democratic mandate to offer that choice. In the election last Thursday the SNP campaigned explicitly on the clear pledge that Scotland’s future should be in Scotland’s hands.”
She added that
the SNP manifesto stated that an SNP election victory would be a clear
instruction by the people of Scotland that a new referendum on
independence should be held next year, on a precise date to be
determined by the Scottish Parliament.
“The SNP won that election –
convincingly – with a higher vote share and a higher percentage of
seats than the Tories won UK wide. The Conservatives in Scotland, who
campaigned relentlessly on the single issue of opposition to another
referendum, lost – overwhelmingly.”
The First Minister said she
recognised the work to be done to persuade a clear majority of people in
Scotland that independence was the best future for our country. That is
why in the months ahead, she said, her government would update the
detailed and substantive case for Scotland becoming an independent
nation.
In a referendum, those who believe that Scotland should
stay part of the Westminster union will be able to make that case. But
the election last week put beyond reasonable argument the government’s
mandate to offer people in Scotland the choice. A coalition would be
built around the principle.
Now the election was over, the First
Minister believed an even broader coalition was being formed. The right
to choose was not just a demand from her as First Minister or from the
SNP, but was based on the solemn right of the people of Scotland to
decide their own future. And the Scottish Government believed that right
should be exercised free from the threat of legal challenge.
“In
line with our values, the First Minister said, we acknowledge that a
referendum must be legal and that it must be accepted as legitimate,
here in Scotland and the rest of the UK as well as in the EU and the
wider international community.” Therefore today, she said, she was
calling for the UK Government to negotiate and agree the transfer of
power that would put beyond doubt the Scottish Parliament’s right to
legislate for a referendum on independence. Together with the
constitutional and democratic case for that transfer of power, the
government was also publishing the draft legislation that would give
effect to it.
She anticipated that in the short term we will
simply hear a restatement of the UK government’s opposition, but warned
they should be under no illusion that that would be an end of the
matter. The Scottish Government would continue to pursue the democratic
case for Scotland’s right to choose in a reasonable and considered
manner. The case was being set out in detail because her government
believed that the UK government – on this as on any issue – had a duty
to respond in a similarly considered and reasonable manner.
The
First Minister accepted that much of the debate at Westminster had been
based on the idea that it is the right of the Westminster Parliament and
the Prime Minister of the day – not the people who live here – to
determine Scotland’s future. In this context, she said, the question was
often posed to her – what will you do if Boris Johnson says no? Her
response was that she would consider all reasonable options to secure
Scotland’s right to self-determination.
“In the New Year, I will also ask the Scottish Parliament to back the case we are publishing today, and we will work to grow and deepen the coalition of support for Scotland’s right to choose. But the document we are publishing today turns the question on its head. It is for the Prime Minister to defend why he believes the UK is not a voluntary union of equal nations. It is for the Prime Minister to set out why he does not believe people in Scotland have the right to self-determination.”
This article was first published on equalitynation.org
