The key points from that ruling from the London authorities:
* “Your subordinate parliament has LIMITED powers, so get back in your box.”
* “The UK is not a voluntary union. We’d have preferred to go on giving you the comfort of assuming that it was, but you did have to push us, didn’t you.”
* “Democratic self-determination is for oppressed peoples or colonies – we think we treat you well so TAKE A HIKE.”
* “No, telling you that you have no right to decide your own future does not mean you are an oppressed people or a colony. WE TREAT YOU WELL and we are best placed to judge that.”
* “Look, you have bread to eat. Well, some. WE TREAT YOU WELL.”
* “We can’t let you vote because you might vote Yes, and if you did there might be pressure for that vote to be respected, or it might erode the legitimacy of the UK Parliament you’ve decided you don’t want to be governed by. That would be an absurd position to put us in, because you are not a colony and therefore we OBVIOUSLY can’t allow you to leave.”
* “The UK Parliament is entitled to the dignity of appearing to rule by consent, and therefore we can’t allow people to decide whether to give consent to UK rule because they might withhold it. That would be simply INTOLERABLE.”
* “It matters not. HE IS YOUR KING.”
*****
I don’t think words are quite adequate to convey how absolutely bloody essential it is that Nicola Sturgeon should reiterate within minutes that Scotland WILL be voting on whether or not to become an independent country within the next two years, and will be doing so in an election used as a de facto referendum, ideally a snap Holyrood election in 2023. No equivocation this time, Nicola. No “period of reflection”. No amibiguities. No weasel words about “independence being the key issue in the manifesto”. No briefings from your outriders that you’re really still looking for a Section 30 order. A de facto referendum means that no further referendum is required – if you get a mandate in the election, you negotiate an independence settlement with the UK Government, and then Scotland becomes independent. End of story.
