Scotland is an ancient European country which has a great future as an independent and equal member of the 21st century family of European nations. And, contrary to the claims of opponents of Scotland taking its place at the top table in Europe, the tide of history is with those who favour Scottish independence.
It was Winston Churchill who, in 1946, observed that European cooperation would mean “small nations will count as much as large ones and gain their honour by their contribution to the common cause.” Recent years have demonstrated the truth of that claim.
Of the 10 countries which joined the European Union in 2004, more than half became independent since 1990 and seven are smaller or around the same size as Scotland in population terms. All of those nations now have a seat and a voice at the top table in Europe, influencing policy and making their own distinct and meaningful ‘contribution to the common cause’. And a quick glance at the modern EU shows just what influence its smaller members can wield.
"Of the 10 countries which joined the European Union in 2004, more than half became independent since 1990 and seven are smaller or around the same size as Scotland in population terms"
Ireland’s presidency of the council last year was a major success, concluding negotiations on the EU’s finances until 2020. It handed over the presidency to Lithuania, a country with a population of three million. The previous year, Denmark used its presidency of the council to lead major reforms to the common fisheries policy. Scotland worked closely with Denmark on that – on issues such as discard-free fisheries, the recovery of cod stocks and more regional-level decision making. But we had no capacity to lead reforms in the same way that Denmark could.
And the common fisheries policy is just one very real and meaningful example of how having a seat at the top table will benefit Scotland. Scotland has 13 per cent of European waters – the second largest of any EU country – and we have the richest fishing waters in the EU, at four tonnes per square nautical mile in Scotland, as opposed to an EU average of one tonne. And despite all of that, we have less formal say in fisheries policy than landlocked countries such as Austria and Slovakia.
Independence will mean that we will have our own voice in the council of ministers. Where we agree with the UK government, we would work with them; but where we disagree, we would no longer be bound to a position which harms our interests. Not being at the top table has harmed our interests for four decades. Ruled by Westminster, we are occasionally consulted. With independence, we will contribute as equals.
In reflecting on Scotland’s place in Europe, we need to reflect on two referendums – the proposed referendum in 2017, in which the people of the UK will be given the option of leaving the EU, and the referendum in September this year, in which the people of Scotland have the chance to become an independent member of the international community.
"Continued membership of Europe is central to our vision of an independent Scotland. And Scotland’s membership will surely be central to any vision of the EU which is true to the Union’s founding ideals"
In the past quarter of a century, ever since Margaret Thatcher’s Bruges speech, euroscepticism has flourished at Westminster. The British Conservative party founded a Bruges group of Europhobes and Eurosceptics. The UK Independence Party (Ukip) has become a serious political force in parts of England, without ever gaining a significant share of the vote in Scotland.
It is illuminating that, reading Thatcher’s Bruges speech now, it seems more moderate than much of the mainstream debate which currently emanates from Westminster. In that 1988 address, the UK’s membership of the EU was accepted as a reality. In David Cameron’s speech on Europe last year, it was used as a negotiating point – something which would be subject to a referendum unless unspecified concessions were granted.
In contrast, there is an overwhelming consensus in Scotland in support of EU membership. And so an independent Scotland will be an enthusiastic, engaged and committed contributor to the European project. The key reason for Scottish independence is that the best people to take decisions about the future of Scotland are the people who live and work in Scotland. That applies to domestic policy – how we create a fairer and more prosperous country. And it applies to international policy – how Scotland contributes to the world.
At present, the leading party in the UK government only has one seat out of the 59 Scottish constituencies at Westminster. That isn’t an occasional aberration. For more than half of my life, Scotland has been governed by parties which could not command a majority in Scotland. It’s a profound democratic deficit which affects all areas of Scottish life. And it now poses a real threat to Scotland’s place in Europe. Polls consistently show a higher level of support for the EU in Scotland than in the rest of the UK. Virulent euroscepticism – of the kind which stifles the debate about Europe at Westminster – has no significant support in Scotland. And Ukip has never won a seat in any election in Scotland.
"An independent Scotland’s contribution to the EU will include making a positive and constructive case for reform of key aspects of EU policy"
And so David Cameron’s proposal to hold a referendum in 2017 is a tactic which no politician in Scotland would ever have considered. There would be virtually no support for such a step in the Scottish parliament. People in Scotland would almost certainly vote in favour of staying in the EU. But because we make up just over eight per cent of the UK population, a majority elsewhere in the UK could force Scotland to leave. This means that for Scotland, becoming an independent nation is the only way to secure our place in the EU.
An independent Scotland’s contribution to the EU will include making a positive and constructive case for reform of key aspects of EU policy. We believe that the common agricultural policy should become more flexible – allowing for more local variation. And we want the EU to play an even greater role in environmental protection and combating climate change. But there is a key difference between our approach to reform and that of the UK government. We are considering what type of Europe we want to be part of; the UK government is considering whether it wants to be part of Europe at all.
Scotland’s history has been entwined with Europe’s for centuries. We now seek independence as part of a civic, consensual and entirely democratic and peaceful process. We have a positive vision of a country which pursues policies of enlightened self-interest at home and abroad; which knows that sovereignty involves choosing to pool sovereignty and which recognises that independence and interdependence go hand in hand.
Continued membership of Europe is central to our vision of an independent Scotland. And Scotland’s membership will surely be central to any vision of the EU which is true to the Union’s founding ideals.
Timeline
- The declaration of Arbroath of 1320 sets out to confirm Scotland’s status as an independent, sovereign state in the form of a letter submitted to pope John XXII.
- The union of the crowns. James VI, king of Scots, takes the thrones of England and Ireland in 1603.
- 1707 - Treaty of the union creates the United Kingdom of Great Britain encompassing England, the Principality of Wales and Scotland. The Scottish parliament is prorogued indefinitely.
- In the 1800s, Anglophone British colonies like Australia, Ireland, South Africa, Canada and New Zealand attempt political independence from London. Some of these campaigns involve violence.
- 1934 - Scottish National Party (SNP) is founded. In 1945, Robert McIntyre wins the SNP’s first Westminster seat at the Motherwell by-election. In 1973, Margo MacDonald wins Govan, marking the emergence of the nationalists as a political force.
- The Kilbrandon commission of 1973 recommends devolved assemblies for Scotland and Wales. This leads to the 1979 referendum on the creation of a Scottish Assembly, which is defeated.
- Faced with a “democratic deficit” during the Conservative governments of the 1980s, devolution and the creation of a Scottish parliament becomes a major debate. A series of constitutional conventions are held to discuss what form such a parliament may take.
- 1997 – Tony Blair’s Labour party wins the general election. A referendum is held showing overwhelming support for a separate Scottish parliament with tax-raising powers. In 1999, after centuries in abeyance, a Scottish parliament again sits in Edinburgh.
- After a period in which the Scottish Parliament proves itself an effective legislative organ, the Labour/Lib Dem coalition which had held power since the re-establishment of the parliament, loses the 2007 election to the SNP, which operates as a minority government.
- With an independence referendum as a key platform, the SNP win a majority in the 2010 election. In October 2012, the ‘Edinburgh agreement’ for a referendum on Scottish independence is signed by the Scottish and UK governments.
- On Sept 18, 2014, Scots will be asked: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”