Another Referendum on Scottish Independence: Is It Time?

On the 23^rd of November, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to legislate for a referendum on Scottish independence. The court argued that this sort of power should be vested in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. 

This demonstrated the irony of Scottish independence. The movement is fighting for its nation’s right to rule itself truly and wholly; yet the shackles of our so-called “Great” Britain are holding it back from even beginning such a process.

Since the failed Scottish independence referendum in 2014 Scottish nationalists have been on a mission to fight for another. These efforts were galvanised by the results of the 2016 Brexit referendum wherein 62% of the Scottish electorate voted to remain in the EU. This of course came to be irrelevant, as the nationwide vote leant just in favour of leaving the EU, sealing Scotland’s fate for them, a future of shabby trade deals and empty supermarket shelves among other things.

So, despite the decision of the Supreme Court, is it time for a second Scottish independence referendum?

Unfortunately, the current Tory Government is likely to think otherwise. If Boris Johnson’s rejection of Nicola Sturgeon’s proposal for another referendum in July this year is anything to go by, then the current Prime Minister and Johnson’s former yes-man, Rishi Sunak, isn’t going to be so fond of the idea either.

The Government will be particularly threatened by the idea of a Scottish independence referendum at the moment with the UK in its worst recession for as long as I and most of my fellow students can remember. This country is currently like an old car being driven at dangerous speeds down a pothole ridden road, its engine is sputtering, and two of its four wheels are starting to come loose, one of those being the one manufactured in Scotland. With Sunak in the driver’s seat, he and his party will do everything they can to stop that wheel from coming loose.

Whilst the economic factors affecting the UK may be another reason for Sunak and his party to grasp onto Scotland, it does actually present Scottish nationalists with a great opportunity to further their fight for independence.

Now is the time for the independence movement to pick up speed and to bring itself to a boiling point, especially with the prospect of the next general election on the horizon in 2024 at the latest. 

If the movement can create serious tensions in the Houses of Parliament over the issue, then there is no reason that the next election can’t act as a de-facto referendum on Scottish independence.

Scotland is its own nation; it operates within its own devolved society that has no need for the oversight and recently embarrassing rule of the United Kingdom from the Houses of Parliament in London. Scotland has its own governing body in the Scottish Parliament, its own capital, Edinburgh as well as its own culture, traditions and history.

It is a nation that has been ruled by the Scottish National Party for 15 years, for 15 years it has been under the governance of a party dedicated to fighting for independence; yet still it is denied another chance at this freedom.

It is time for a change in Scotland. Let alone time for a referendum it is time for Scottish independence, however much rebellion and resistance that may require.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons