Brexit alone will not deliver Scottish independence, warns Alyn Smith

BY TOM GORDON

BREXIT alone will not deliver independence, and the SNP still needs to persuade people on a host of other issues to win next time, according to the MEP standing to be the party’s deputy.

Alyn Smith, a member of the First Minister’s Standing Council on Europe, said Brexit had changed the political weather, but was only “one factor among many” for voters. His comments are more cautious than those of Nicola Sturgeon, who within hours of last month’s UK-wide Brexit result said it had made a second independence referendum “highly likely” given Scotland voted 62-38 for Remain.

Smith is also less gung-ho than his rival for the deputy leadership, Angus Robertson, who said on Friday that Scotland was “on the brink of independence”.

Smith warned the EU issue was not enough for a future Yes win, despite hopes of a post-Brexit boost. He said: “It’s going to come down to the whole range of options that we saw in the last referendum. People want competence, they want vision, they want inspiration, they want reassurance, they want stability.

“I think it [Brexit] is very much part of the picture and it’s changed the dynamic. It’s given people the opportunity to reassess. It will push some people over the top.

“It’s one issue among many — a really important one — but it’s one issue among many. We need to persuade people [independence] is indeed the Alyn Smith delivers the speech that received a standing ovation in the European Parliament in June best option and make sure there’s a sustainable majority for that, and I don’t think we’re there yet.” In the 2014 referendum, EU membership ranked as the voters’ seventh place priority.

With the SNP Treasury team exploring currency options for an independent Scotland, Smith said he was “pragmatic” about the choice, and was open to the Euro.

“I don’t think anything should be ruled out at the moment. That doesn’t mean it [the Euro] is a likely option. But this is so much in flux, so much up in the air. For me currency is a question of pragmatism and what’s going to work best. I would consider all options and all scenarios.”

He said public hostility to the Euro was softening.

“It’s shifted for a lot of people, including within the financial services sector. A number of people who used to do stuff in Sterling are now looking at the Euro as the more stable option.

“Right now, all options should be looked at and tested on their merits.”

The SNP’s current deputy leader, Stewart Hosie, will stand down at the party’s conference in October.

Smith, 42, an MEP since 2004, is campaigning to succeed him with a pitch centred on Brexit, arguing his job in Brussels makes him uniquely placed to promote Scotland’s case in Europe and cement relationships that could help an independent Scotland stay in the EU. Also in the running for deputy are Robertson, the SNP’s Westminster leader, Edinburgh East MP Tommy Sheppard, and Inverclyde councillor Chris McEleny.

“What distinguishes me from Angus is I have time to do it,” Smith said

“Angus is our Westminster group leader. That’s quite a big job, quite a busy job.

“Holding the most right-wing government in recent memory to account is going to be a non-stop daily grind.” THE SNP stepped up their calls to protect the EU’s student exchange programme after it emerged two Scottish universities were the scheme’s top beneficiaries in the UK. Brexit has put the UK’s participation in the 30-year-old Erasmus programme in doubt. Figures show 462 students attended the University of Edinburgh in 2014, and a further 460 went to the University of Glasgow.

Holyrood’s European Committee will next week hold a rare recess meeting on Brexit’s impact on Scotland’s higher education, finance, and the food and drink sectors.