Last Thursday, the Scottish people voted to elect their Parliament. It was the first Scottish parliamentary election since Brexit, and the campaign was dominated by the constitutional argument.
On Saturday morning, before all votes had been counted, the UK prime minister Boris Johnson once again repeated that he would not allow a referendum on Scottish independence, irrespective of the outcome of the vote. His remarks were intended to downplay the significance of the results in Scotland – to diminish the likely victory of pro-independence parties, and to distract from the rejection of his Brexit project.
Yet, the results, though expected, are extremely significant: the Scottish people renewed and reinforced their democratic mandate for a referendum on independence. The pro-European pro-independence majority in the Scottish Parliament increased by three seats in an election with the highest turnout in the history of Scottish parliamentary elections.
Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP reached a record level of support and fell only one seat short of a working majority in its own right – a remarkable feat in a proportionally elected Parliament. The SNP has more than twice as many seats as the Conservatives, the second largest party.
The Scottish Greens also obtained a strong result and have pledged to renew their support for the government. Nicola Sturgeon will therefore remain Scottish prime minister for another term.
In their manifestos the SNP and the Greens both included a clear commitment to offer the Scottish people a referendum on their future. Their election platforms also included the intention to rejoin the EU as an independent country, reaffirming the democratic mandate to remain in the EU that was expressed by the Scottish people in the Brexit referendum.
It’s been reported that Boris Johnson has called Nicola Sturgeon and once again repeat that he will not allow a referendum to take place. But the moral authority for holding such a stance is now weaker than ever before.
It is time to change the narrative: Brexit Britain must not be allowed to define the future of Scotland.
Scottish people need our help and it is important for every democrat in Europe to speak out in support for Scotland’s democratic right to choose its own future.
That’s why we urge citizens of each and every European country to help Scots in their campaign for self-determination, and to join 10 thousand fellow Europeans adding their name to our letter to European leaders.
We want the Scottish people to hear that European citizens everywhere support a democratic choice for Scotland and would welcome back an independent Scotland into the European Union.
