Scotland unites against Theresa May’s far-right Tories, as Europe unites against Brexit Britain

SCOTLAND United was the name given to the radical home rule initiative in the early 1990s that brought together Labour supporters and independence supporters in a righteous coalition against Thatcherite Conservatism. Many still recall the late William McIlvanney telling some 30,000 people gathered in Edinburgh during the 1992 European Summit: “We gather here like refugees in the capital of our own country.” Those words came winging back to me last week as Scotland united once again in face of a UK Tory Government that is now speaking the language of the European far right, and seems determined to turn EU workers into second-class citizens – refugees in their own Europe. The proposal by the Conservative Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, that migrant workers should be placed on a register has sparked a deep sense of moral outrage. The Scottish political tribes put aside their constitutional squabbles for a moment and found a common voice. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon used an article in the Labour-supporting Daily Record to condemn “thinly-veiled xenophobia” at the C on s er v at i ve conference, and the misuse of EU nationals living in Britain as “negotiating cards”, as the trade secretary, Liam Fox, described them. Economic hostages in the Brexiteers’ battle of Little Britain.

Ruth Davidson – the Tory right’s human shield north of the Border – claimed last week that the SNP “did not speak for Scotland”. But the First Minister clearly did speak for a large part of it last week. Even the Daily Telegraph’s self-styled “black-hearted unionist” Alan Cochrane condemned Amber Rudd’s proposal as “stupid and inflammatory”. The Daily Record editorial summed it up ruefully: “Even those who instinctively feel we are “better together” will start to consider that independence is the only way to save ourselves from an increasingly bitter political mood in England”.

The sight of Ukip MSPs reportedly engaging in a scuffle in the European Parliament seemed somehow in tune with the bitter times. It was reminiscent of those clips you used to see on YouTube of rightwing politicians in former communist countries coming to blows in TV studios. Is this what British politics has become? Even Tory commentators agree that the turmoil in Nigel Farage’s party is because Theresa May has stolen his populist clothes. The Conservative Party is becoming indistinguishable from Ukip.

Meanwhile, the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, was applauded by German business leaders for a speech calling on the EU to unite in resistance to British Brexiteers trying to gain access to the European