Union backs a new poll on independence
Nicola Sturgeon’s demand for a second independence referendum has been backed by Scotland’s biggest trade union.
Unison, which represents public sector workers, voted at a meeting in Glasgow yesterday to support calls for the transfer of power to Scotland to hold a new vote.
Unison’s Scottish convener Lilian Macer said: “This no way pre-determines the views our members may take in the event of an independence referendum, but they should have the opportunity to express their views.”
She added: “Unison Scotland defends public services and those who deliver them and it is imperative that we explore the full range of options available to the people of Scotland.”
Last month Boris Johnson rejected Sturgeon’s request for the power to hold independence referendums, which the First Minister made after the SNP won 48 of the 59 Westminster seats in Scotland.
SNP deputy leader Keith Brown said: “There is now an unstoppable momentum behind a fresh independence referendum.
“Scotland voted overwhelmingly to reject Brexit but we have been dragged out of the EU against our will by a Tory government with no mandate here. The people of Scotland must have a choice over our future – so we can remain at the heart of Europe as an equal and independent country.”
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “Today’s decision by Unison to back an independence referendum is a totemic moment for the independence movement.”
So is it the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end? As Britain Brexits, even Winston Churchill who came up with the whole end/beginning thing would struggle to say.
We are, however, undoubtedly, without a shred of uncertainty, nowhere near the end of the end. Hopefully, we never will be because things change – opinions, people, governments – and, while a little calm would be a welcome respite after years of frenetic argy-bargy, no country can afford to stay becalmed for long.
So in this most divided and disunited part of this divided and disunited United Kingdom, the clamour for another vote on Scotland’s future will continue despite the First Minister on Friday urging the most ardent Yessers to have a little patience.
The chances of a poll this year are – and always have been – next door to nil, of course, and next year seems pretty unlikely too. But, is it really tenable for a Conservative government to say no, no, no when around half of Scotland is voting for a party that says yes? Probably not. Indeed, some observers believe Boris Johnson has already missed a trick by refusing one this year when the SNP, despite their gung-ho demeanour and for a raft of different reasons, seem less than prepared for another go round.
Ms Sturgeon’s speech on Friday had received big billing. Trailed for days, she would, we were told, reveal the next cunning move in her constitutional chess game with Downing Street. It was not, however, only her political opponents left underwhelmed. Plenty of independence supporters were not fully whelmed either, although a little less hype might have prevented a lot of the ho-hummery.
There were some shiny things to distract supporters from her tacit admission that, despite talking about it, demanding it and insisting on it for months, there will be no new vote this year. There will be no wildcat referendums or legal challenges either but there will be a constitutional convention – woop! – and a series of policy papers on how an independent Scotland might go about our business in the bright new tomorrow.
The truth of it is that Scotland has not, despite all the tortuous talk and tantrums, turned a wheel in five years. We are where we were. Around half the country support independence and around half, most likely the same half, support another referendum.
But, importantly for the First Minister, their support for another vote is no pressing concern for most. According to a YouGov poll published last week, there is no clamour for a return to the polls this year or next with a vague “within five years” being the only timescale backed by a majority.
In the meantime, Brexit will unfold after the taped bongs of Big Ben in Downing Street ushered us out of the European Union on Friday night as Brexiteers yelled “Freedom” in Parliament Square and massed Yessers sang Auld Lang Syne outside Holyrood.
It was certainly an end of something, probably a beginning of something else and, stuck in the middle, we muddle on.
We have not turned a wheel in five years