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As a Scot who cares about the wellbeing of other Scots, I agree. This growing support for indy is significant & shouldn't be underestimated. It's high. But if, as many indy supporters are saying today, we're heading rapidly towards independence then it's not actually high enough https://twitter.com/dhothersall/status/1279726817696456704
If we've learnt one thing from 2016 it's that permanent constitutional change cannot bring a nation together to move forward if it's scraped over the line. A referendum should be the conclusion of a respectful national conversation which gradually coalesces around a shared vision
The devolution ref got 75%. Since 2014 we've had a series of catastrophic Tory PMs, continued austerity, Brexit, Westminster paralysed in crisis, and a shambolic handling of a pandemic and still just under 50% of Scots still reject the idea that separation is the best way forward
Because as angry as we all are, we know that our rage won't answer the currency question or explain how we end up economically better-off without UK pooling and sharing, or diversify the Scottish economy overnight or help us choose between rUK or EU free movement.
We cannot shake the deep-rooted belief that building an international border at Carlisle, withdrawing from all UK institutions and trying to rejoin the EU while our biggest neighbour and land border is out, is somehow feasible. It's not, and we cannot will it to be.
I'm happy that English progressives have found a new 'If I were Scottish I'd.../we can't really blame Scots for wanting...' outlet to sound off about the UK govt's failings but forgive us for not sacrificing the next generation of Scots' welfare and wellbeing on your romanticisms
The SNP has the burden of explaining & justifying how independence would work. I want to hear much, much more about that, because in the end if we are doing this, we are doing it prepared, informed and with realistic expectations of the trade-offs. We're not repeating Brexit
But Labour has the burden of explaining and justifying what the alternative is, because it is not the status quo. Not a person in the Labour Party would justify the UK constitutional status quo. FPTP is producing farcical bovine parliaments doing the govt's bidding instead of
holding it to account. It's time for PR. The House of Lords is 3 generations beyond its sell-by date and it's time for an elected chamber. The monarchy has proved itself to be wholly incapable of performing Head of State functions when parliament became paralysed and there's a
reckoning coming when the Queen's rule ends. We're now building a post-COVID world and there's a future possible with a federal UK, and a radical and compassionate Labour party in power in Westminster working together and working well with Scottish Governments. //
