Confusion over ‘no mandate’ for indy vote
IAM struck by the apparent claim that there is not a mandate to call a second independence referendum, given that by itself the SNP does not command an overall majority.
To initially highlight the scale of the SNP victory, the party achieved 47.7 per cent of the constituency vote in these elections, the highest achieved by any party since Labour’s victory in the 1966 UK General Election, when it achieved 48.0 of the vote, including 49.8 per cent in Scotland.
The SNP now holds an amazing 85 per cent of the constituencies in Scotland, smashing the 63 per cent of seats won by Tony Blair in Labour’s 1997 landslide victory.
Let us not forget, Prime Minister David Cameron enacted a referendum on Brexit with a paltry 36.1 per cent of the vote and this was enacted by Boris Johnson with a mere 43.6 per cent of the vote.
The Scottish Parliament now has a pro-independence majority of 15 (64 SNP MSPs plus 8 Greens) matching that of the 2011 election which resulted in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. In that year the SNP achieving 45.4 per cent of the vote on a turnout of just over half the electorate, considerably less than the 64.2 per cent turnout achieved in the 2021 elections.
People can disagree on how the UK Government should respond to demands from a pro-independence majority in the Scottish Parliament, but the party-political composition of that majority is of no constitutional significance and shouldn’t in any way influence the decision.
THANKS for sharing Jamie and raising the awareness (‘Living with depression is mentally draining’: Our reporter talks about his mental health struggles, Tuesday).
Everyone should be encouraged to talk more and share their thoughts and feelings.
Kenny Maidin
Posted online
I WAS moved by Jamie Shuttleworth’s open and honest piece in Tuesday’s Glasgow Times. It will help a lot of people realise mental health struggles can impact all ages.
LK
Glasgow