Today, the Scottish government made a significant announcement on the roadmap towards the new independence referendum, for which, it’s worth reminding, it received a strong democratic mandate by the Scottish people in the last Parliamentary elections.
In a statement to the Scottish Parliament this afternoon, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the publication of legislation to hold a referendum on the 19th of October 2023 and her intention to negotiate its terms with the UK Prime Minister.
The First Minister stressed that, above all, the referendum needed to be indisputably lawful and that “the lawfulness must be established as a matter of fact not just opinion”. That is why she asked the Scottish Lord Advocate to refer the question to the UK Supreme Court whether a referendum legislated by the Scottish Parliament would be legal in the absence of consent from the UK Prime Minister.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson reiterated shortly after the announcement that he will deny approval of the referendum now officially requested by the Scottish government, Parliament and people. His refusal goes against any basic principle of democracy within a voluntary union of nations that the UK is constitutionally supposed to be.
The Scottish First Minister’s announcement came one day after the UK government put forward legislation in breach of international law over the Northern Ireland protocol.
A blank cheque from the UK Parliament for Boris Johnson to break international law which was lambasted as illegal even by the former UK Prime Minister Theresa May, who added in Westminster that “it will diminish the standing of the United Kingdom in the eyes of the world.”
It’s precisely the strong desire to break away from the route of illegality and grand delusions of Brexit Britain that produced the strongest pro-Independence pro-European majority in the history of the Scottish Parliament. Nicola Sturgeon reiterated this desire today. When laying out the reasons for independence she talked about the public desire for an “outward-looking and internationalist Scotland” within the EU.
We felt this palpable enthusiasm for an Independent Scotland in Europe also in the warm reception we received from our Scottish friends when we hosted our event last Thursday (If you missed it, you can watch it here).
Thank you so much to everyone that attended it. We were extremely touched by the kind feedback we received from so many of you, especially the messages from Scots who told us that listening to Anders from Denmark, Carlos from Spain, Elise and Jane from France, Joanna from Poland, Sarah from Italy, Sebastian from Romania and Susanna from Germany made them feel more hopeful about their future.
As Europeans, we truly believe that hope in Scotland’s future is justified, not just because Scotland has the capacity and resources to become a successful independent European nation but because, in doing so, it also has the chance to reverse the injustice of Brexit and to thus write the beginning of a new, more hopeful chapter in European history.
For us, the need now is to lobby EU politicians. We need to do so now not just to ensure they express a welcoming stance towards Scotland’s desire to rejoin the EU but also, crucially, to ensure the international pressure on the UK government to uphold the rule of law and grant the referendum that the Scottish people have democratically mandated.
You can share our messages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
This is why we ask you today to support our fundraiser to fund our lobbying efforts in Brussels and make sure the dream of an independent and European Scotland can become the fuel of the better Europe of tomorrow.
Thank you so much to the people who’ve already contributed, we value your support greatly and will be in touch soon.
In European solidarity
EfS team