We’ve been left out... it’s time to take control

The end of last week was a sad one for many here locally and across the country as 11pm on Friday saw us leave the EU against the wishes of the vast majority of us living in Scotland.

It also brought to an end three years of political deadlock in which the fabric of the United Kingdom has been stretched and damaged, while established conventions that are the foundations of our political system have been undermined.

Despite Scotland voting overwhelmingly to remain in the EU, the Scottish Government accepted the outcome of the referendum. Sensible compromise proposals were submitted over the terms of the UK’s exit and our future relationship with the EU that reflected that, while Scotland had not voted to leave, the UK as a whole had.

Our country has specific needs that must be addressed during the coming transition period and a hard break, which will cause severe disruption, must be avoided.

However, these proposals have been repeatedly cast aside and ignored by a Tory UK Government that has from the outset refused to work cooperatively with opposition parties and devolved governments. At no point has Westminster ever sought the consent of the Scottish Parliament for its Withdrawal Agreement and it has consistently failed to take into consideration the needs of the Scottish people, our communities and our economy.

The truth is that our future is deeply intertwined with the EU. Our exports to the EU grew by over £675m in 2018, while the continued success of our public services depends very much on inward migration.

Depriving Scotland of the skills and experience of EU nationals will present us with a significant challenge. However, given their track record, it was no surprise that the First Minister’s pragmatic solutions for a tailored migration system for Scotland were immediately rejected by the UK Government.

A sadness for many will be the realisation that the political union they understood to be stable and cooperative is broken beyond repair.

No one looking on over the past three years can say with honesty that we live in a union of equals. Devolution as we have known it has been attacked, with Westminster having made several attempts to grab back powers from Holyrood.

As the First Minister set out last week, the case for Scotland’s independence is undeniable. We are being led down a path that we do not wish to walk, away from our place and future at the heart of Europe.

That future is now only open to us through independence and we must have the powers to make that choice.

More and more Scots are starting to agree. Latest polls show that a majority of Scots now support independence, the highest level since 2015. That Unison, Scotland’s biggest trade union, has come out in support of a transfer of powers for a fresh referendum illustrates the momentum that is building.

The Tories undemocratic opposition to a referendum is unsustainable.

But our journey to independence is not inevitable, so it falls to those of us who already believe in the strength of our argument to persuade the majority of people in Scotland to choose it.

Our message of a progressive, open and internationalist Scotland in Europe resonates with many who are rightly concerned with our future in Brexit Britain.

We are being led down a path that we don’t wish to walk