With so many suggestions for the route to independence post No vote it seems difficult to ascertain the most likely. No-one can second guess the position of the pro Indy parties as they themselves are planning their next move. The media are awash with speculation & there are hints of policy from Nicola Sturgeon. The Yes campaign had cited International legal opinion from such sources as the United Nations Article 1 of its charter equal rights and self determination of peoples also the International Covenant on Civil and Political Civil Rights (article 1) 1966 which stated all peoples have the right of self determination. Generally this is accepted & in the case of Scotland it was a given that the population of course had the legal right & protection to campaign & declare these rights, but it was argued at the time that as (apparently we are) equal citizens already, we had a bit more to prove in justifying a referendum. The question always was how? In 2010 the International Court of Justice decided that Kosovos secession from Serbia was legal, this provided a precedent that this form of national self determination was accepted internationally & backed by a global body. It gave a framework (amongst others of course) for the Scottish government to look towards when negotiating the Edinburgh agreement. At the time there were still questions of our referendum having legitimacy as we often forget. The question for Scotland post No vote is do we proceed towards another democratic referendum leaving the union if a majority votes for it, or are there other routes? The other routes like UDI it seems are in a grey area in regards international law & realistically would parties in Scotland seriously advocate it. Morally & ethically we most definitely had an argument for independence (though it genuinely wasnt clear to many Scots), we established a legal basis for one, now after defeat we must imperatively argue that the basis for another referendum lies not only in an economic, democratic, cultural, & environmental case but crucially a social one. The vow by the union will not be delivered in full as promised, extra powers its not obvious whats on offer either, but regardless of what ever powers are offered the social case is the strongest. Movement towards another referendum & the desire for another one by the previous No voters will be crucially on the social case. Other arguments are very important not least the economic one but the social change & decline in Scotland thats on its way will become ever present & will show how ineffective Westminster rule is (especially by parties rejected at the ballot box in Scotland) may drive the electorate towards a huge independence campaign. What we need to do is normalise the idea of independence through continually highlighting the inequity of devolved powers so long as key powers over the economy are reserved. The Catalan, Quebec, Texan & Welsh movements are watching our next steps with great interest, once more Scotland will invent something else for the world - A route to independence - Dom Anderson - Alliance for Scotland
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 23:17:17 +0000
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