Nicola Sturgeon, Prime Minister of Scotland, announces at the Scottish National Party (SNP) party conference that he wants independence from Great Britain.
Photo: wire dpa / PA | Andrea Milligan
In the 2014 referendum, 55.3% of Scots voted against secession from Britain. In her closing speech at the Scottish National Party (SNP) party conference, which ended Monday in Aberdeen, she promised measures against inflation and presented an independent Scotland as a counterpoint to Liz Truss’ neoliberal Tory England. .
Since Brexit in 2016, the pendulum has swung towards independence. In the polls, their supporters are just ahead of the unionists. Many liberal and urban voters are hoping this will bring them back to the EU. Sturgeon is now also trying to portray Scotland as a social and progressive alternative to conservative Tory England: long before the London government, he announced concrete measures against the wave of inflation, especially for the poorer classes.
Common Fund for Independence
On September 6, Sturgeon announced that he would freeze rents and suspend evictions until March to stem the rising cost of living. At the party congress he promised further investments: “We will invest the remaining oil revenues and thus strengthen our solvency, not to lower taxes for the richest, but to create an independent investment fund”. in the first decade of independence sterling (almost 23 billion euros).
Concrete social measures were also decided at the party congress. For example, vacant homes need to be converted into social housing for the homeless and paid leave during menstruation is introduced. While the SNP promotes independence with progressive social policies as a counterpart to the neoliberal policies of the Tories, the SNP’s foreign policy differs little from that of London. For example, Russian President Putin “must be held responsible for war crimes,” he asked.
The second UK Supreme Court hearing on whether Scotland could hold a referendum without London’s consent will take place today, Wednesday. A decision is not expected for a few weeks.
Northern Ireland Protocol Controversy
The Scottish government released its legal views in August. In it, he stated that the referendum was “consultative” and had no legal effect on the Union. He says that Brexit and the pandemic have “turned politics and the economy upside down” and therefore independence needs to be reexamined. The Scottish Parliament has an “undeniable democratic mandate” for a new independence vote, Sturgeon said. Regardless of the Supreme Court decision, he intends to hold a referendum on October 19, 2023 on whether to stay in the UK.
Scotland is also giving Liz Truss a headache after discussions at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham last week. You are currently trying to negotiate a solution to the Northern Ireland Protocol with Brussels so that you can devote all your attention to fighting inflation. But there is also headwind from Northern Ireland. At the DUP trade union party conference, party leader Jeffrey Donaldson announced that he would continue not to implement the protocol and all changes and to boycott the work of the government. If there is no new government in Belfast by 28 October, general elections will be held in Northern Ireland.
