The revival of Scotland’s desire for independence

The revival of Scotland’s desire for independence

The question of Scottish independence was supposed to have been settled by the 2014 referendum when Scots voted by 55% to 45% for the country to remain part of the UK.

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But nowadays,  between Brexit, which almost two-thirds of Scots opposed, an another UK election victory for the Conservative party, which only a quarter of Scots voted for, and the controversial handling by Boris Johnson of Covid-19 pandemic  which caused 43 000 deaths in the UK, revived the desire of Scotland for Independence.

Even if Scotland gave up its sovereignty in the 1707 Act of Union, a treaty that effected the union of England and Scotland into Great Britain, Scotland owns its own legal system, education system, has a distinct international sporting teams and, for the last 21 years, a separate devolved parliament at Holyrood in Edimburg.

In October, an Ipsos Mori poll established that 58% of Scottish would vote to quit the UK if a referendum on Scottish independence was held this year.

During the SNP virtual conference in October, Scotland’s first minister and SNP leader Nicola sturgeon has said Westminster should approved a second referendum to be constitutionnaly inconstestable, in order to not create a conflict with the government such as what happened in Spain between the Catalan government and the Spanish.

Scottish members of parliament are hopeful that gaining a majority in the Scottish parliament in the May 2021 ballot will give them a mandate for another referendum on whether Scotland should remain in the UK.

But Referring to the UK government, it will not grant the section 30 order required for the Scottish parliament to legally hold another poll. The section 30 order refers to the section of the Scotland Act ,that allows Holyrood to pass laws in areas that are normally reserved to Westminster.

Nevertheless, The SNP spin doctor Dennis Canavan said "Anyone with any respect for democracy meaning the respect of the choice of the citizen who voted for the SNP should recognise that having a Parliamentary majority constitutes a mandate for a second referendum. “

Nicola Sturgeon is still favoured as her handling of Covid is perceived  to be better than England’s, and the polls show that independence is increasingly popular. So, if the SNP get more seats next May during the Scottish parliamentary elections, there will be a vast constitutional collision with Nicola Sturgeon claiming that she has a  mandate for a second referendum and Boris Johnson using his patchwork majority to deny it.

Ian Blackford, a SNP Member of parliament said: “Instead of listening to the will of the Scottish people, the Tories are attempting to deny democracy and destroy devolution.”

Despite this arguments, Boris Johnson said the referendum in 2014 was “once in a generation”, showing that after Brexit and the separation between Uk and the UE, the UK will have to deal with the willing of independence of Scotland.

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