Turn back the tide of division
The nationalists are using Brexit for their own ends.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is proposing a new, divisive referendum on Scottish independence. The Scottish National Party has been single-minded in contriving for another ever since the results of the last one were announced in 2014. The First Minister is going back on its promise that it was a“once in a generation” event.
There is an absurd gap in the SNP’s argument. They are dragging us into another referendum because of Brexit leaving the EU —yet they refuse to guarantee that their plan is for an independent Scotland to remain in the EU. Those who may vote for independence because they don’t want to leave the EU will end up bitterly disappointed.
The SNP are using the people who voted Remain on June 23.
For the SNP, independence comes first and everything else is second. We are now facing the disastrous prospect of an independent Scotland outside both the EU and the UK.
The harm to the UK economy from leaving the single market is going to be enormous. It is almost unimaginable to think that going on to divide the market of the UK would be a good idea.
I oppose erecting a barrier, any barrier, in the heart of the United Kingdom or the European Union. Conservatives want to take my European identity away from me. The nationalists want to take my British identity away from me. I am proud to be Scottish, British and European and they may want to take that away from me but my message to both is clear: I choose my family over your division.
The economic case for Scottish independence is weaker than in 2014 and the questions that were present during the last referendum are still unanswered. The prospect of a Scotland outside the EU raises further questions as to what an independent country would look like.
It’s time to stand up for the United Kingdom.
Britain is full of people who care. We, together, care about the environment, poverty at home and abroad, the sick, the elderly, the young. Our country is jammed full of people who want a better world. The Oxford Committee for Famine Relief was a group of concerned citizens who first met in 1942 to relieve famine in Greece. We know it today as Oxfam.
In the wake of the First World War Eglantyne Jebb, and her sister Dorothy Buxton campaigned for children. In the early twenties they filled a ship with 600 tons of aid bound for Russia to save the lives of 300,000 children and more than 350,000 adults. Save the Children now helps over 17 million children every year. Both charities born in the heart of Britain – showing compassion to the world. British people, with compassion and care, digging into their pockets.
We should celebrate our generosity and compassion. It is a mark of who we are. No Scottish nationalist will tell me that I should be ashamed of that.
Our United Kingdom is an uplifting, mutually beneficial partnership that we should cherish not trash. The responsibility on liberals is great. We must stand up and be counted for our values. This is a battle of ideas and values, not of identities and flags. We must make the positive, open, internationalist case.
So as the First Minister gambles with our country again, I want all Scots to rise up and say we stand with our neighbours and we value our partnership.
Our job is to turn back the tide of division. Willie Rennie says it’s values, not flags and identities, we should be fighting for