Yesterday, thousands gathered in London at the Rejoin March to call for the UK’s return to the European Union. Like some of us at Europe for Scotland, they travelled from all over the UK to Parliament Square to denounce the “huge mistake” of Brexit.
In raising their voices for a future in Europe, the protesters spoke not only for a clear majority of Scots but also for the silent majority of English citizens, who, as poll after poll indicates, wish the UK had never severed ties with the rest of the continent.
Yet while an increasing majority of citizens across the four nations of the UK regret Brexit, both the Tory and Labour Party have ruled out reversing it. On the contrary, both parties seem scared to antagonise the few die-hard Brexiters who still think that the UK’s downward spiral means the country is going in the right direction. Labour leader Keir Starmer never misses an opportunity to assure voters that he will be tough on immigration and make sure that Brexit is here to stay—only an improved, somewhat less damaging form of Brexit.
Probably the most important reason why the two major UK parties are ignoring the wishes of the majority of voters is the UK’s electoral system. Many of those unhappy with Brexit live in so-called safe seats. But with the UK’s First Past the Post electoral system it’s the contested marginal seats that decide elections.
After Brexit, both Labour and the Tories have been courting voters in English marginal seats, where the electorate came out for Brexit in 2016 and gave Boris Johnson his majority in 2019. Voters in those seats are now affected by one of the worst cost-of-living crises in the developed world but not yet ready to attribute this to Brexit. Among many of these voters stopping immigration is still a primary concern.
Following the logic of First Past the Post, an electoral system used in Europe only by the authoritarian Belarus and the UK, winning over a few thousand strategically important people in marginal seats takes precedence over addressing the concerns of millions of young people, workers and families up and down the nations and regions of the UK.
Source: Stuart Donald guest article for Europe for Scotland. Under the UK electoral system, the Tories always have a considerable advantage with detrimental effects for all the constituent nations of the UK
The antidemocratic nature of its electoral system has long been pointed out as a reason why the UK has such a dysfunctional democracy, and this argument was repeated by several speakers at the London march yesterday. But sadly, a democratic deficit is not the only bad outcome of this system. Recent data examined by Scottish researchers link the effect of the electoral system on social outcomes, showing a dire picture. In this guest article for Europe For Scotland, Stuart Donald highlights how the First Past the Post electoral system has contributed to the UK’s spiralling inequality and poverty crisis.
These problems are of course exacerbated by the elitism inherent in the Westminster system, a product of its imperial legacy, which has its centre and symbol in the British monarchy, whose unelected nature prevents a clear constitutional role at times of crisis. This, in turn, has contributed to the wave of political instability brought about by Brexit, with 5 different Prime Ministers in the last 7 years, which made it more difficult to address all other problems.
Scotland, on the other hand, enjoyed political stability also thanks to its electoral system. Developed 25 years ago, it is modelled after the electoral systems prevalent in Europe, mostly based on the principle of proportional representation. Alongside its other institutions (like its separate legal system), Scotland thus has the institutional framework in place to create a fairer and more democratic society if and when it becomes an independent nation.
How an independent Scotland could lead the way to democratise the entire UK will be one the topics addressed in a major conference that will happen in Edinburgh on the 18th of November. Its purpose is to address the democratic crisis across the UK. It is also a salute to the late Tom Nairn, who died aged 90 in January (and whose last political action was to sign our Open Letter). Europe for Scotland is proud to support the conference and help pay tribute to one of the greatest Scottish thinkers of our time, whose influence on the internationalist outlook and inclusive nature of the Scottish movement for self-determination cannot be understated.
So we would like to encourage all of you to read and share the guest article for Europe For Scotland by Stuart Donald. And if you think you can be in Edinburgh on the 18th of November, don’t hesitate and book your tickets now to hear from amazing speakers from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England and all around Europe on how to confront the enduring constitutional crisis in the UK.
In European solidarity,
EfS team