Meeting invite to turn principle into legal mechanism
First Minister John Swinney has written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham regarding his comments on the constitutional future of Scotland. The First Minister invited the PM to meet to turn the accepted principle into a legal mechanism for a referendum.
The full text of the First Minister’s letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham:
Dear Andy
I am writing with regards to your comments at Prime Ministers Question’s in response to my colleague Chris Law MP’s question.
Earlier today, you said; “on that question of a border poll, it is to be considered by the Northern Ireland Secretary when there is a clear consensus in the country – when public opinion has changed to the point where the call has to be considered. I would say that it is exactly the same situation in Scotland.”
The Good Friday Agreement, as implemented in UK domestic law by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, makes clear that if it appears likely that a majority of people in Northern Ireland would vote for Irish unification, a referendum should be held.
Your acceptance of the fact that majority support for independence in Scotland also means that a referendum should take place is welcome.
I am encouraged that you have reconsidered your previous comments that the democratic right of the people of Scotland to choose their own future is “off limits.”
This is a long-overdue acceptance of the reality that the people of Scotland will decide their own future, not the UK Government, and a clear endorsement of the fact that the UK must be a voluntary union.
In May, the SNP won a historic and unprecedented fifth term in office, and the people of Scotland elected more pro-independence MSPs than at any point in the Parliament’s history.
Given that, the previous refusal of the UK Government to consider Scotland’s right to decide its own future was clearly unsustainable.
You have rightly identified that there must be a discussion about where power lies across these islands.
By concluding a clear, understandable mechanism, both sides of the constitutional debate can move forward constructively in the full knowledge of an agreed process by which the Scottish people can exercise their democratic right at a time of their choosing.
Now that you have agreed the principle that Scotland should have a referendum when it is likely that people would vote for independence, it is important for us to meet to discuss how we turn that principle into an agreed legal mechanism, as exists in Northern Ireland.
I have asked my office to take forward the necessary arrangements.
Swinney: Nobody will take better decisions about Scotland’s future than the people who live here
The draft Referendum Bill has been published asking ‘Should Scotland be an independent country? Yes or No.‘
The Bill, which will be introduced into Parliament once the necessary powers are secured, was a commitment in the Scottish Government’s 100 days programme.
It sets out the question, defines the franchise for the vote, and will include a date upon introduction.
First Minister John Swinney said: “The world has changed fundamentally since 2014. So has the UK, and so has Scotland.
“While people living in the UK endure flatlining living standards and the economic damage caused by Brexit, countries all around us are enjoying a higher quality of life and have more wealth to invest in their public services – often without a fraction of the abundant resources and economic strengths that Scotland enjoys.
“In May, the largest number of pro-independence MSPs in history voted to support the call for powers to hold a referendum on Scottish independence to be devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
“This draft Bill is simple, straightforward and direct. It proposes a clear, unambiguous question, sets out who can vote in the referendum and, once agreed, will include the date. It provides people with certainty. What is now needed is the UK Government to respect the voice of the Scottish people and Parliament and transfer the necessary powers.
“Scotland is ready. The Scottish people are ready. It is time the UK Government delivered.
“I will have more to say about Scotland’s constitutional future in the coming weeks. Fundamentally, nobody will take better decisions about Scotland’s future than the people who live here. That future belongs to the people of Scotland – and no one else.”
The next steps on securing a referendum on independence were outlined by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during a statement to Parliament yesterday.
She said: “Independence is about equipping ourselves to navigate the future, guided by our own values, aspirations and interests.
“Now is the time – at this critical moment in history – to debate and decide the future of our country. Now is the time to get Scotland on the right path – the path chosen by those who live here. Now is the time for independence.
“This parliament has a clear, democratic mandate to offer Scotland that choice. The UK government, regrettably however, is refusing to respect Scottish democracy.
“The UK and Scottish Governments should be sitting down together, responsibly agreeing a process, including a section 30 order, that allows the Scottish people to decide. That would be the democratic way to proceed.
“The issue of independence cannot be suppressed. It must be resolved democratically. And that must be through a process that is above reproach and commands confidence.
“That is why I am setting out today the actions the Scottish Government and the Lord Advocate will take, in the absence of a section 30 order, to secure Scotland’s right to choose.
“I can announce, first of all, that the Scottish Government is today publishing the ‘Scottish Independence Referendum Bill’.
“In common with the 2014 referendum – indeed, in common with the Brexit referendum and the referendum to establish this Parliament – the independence referendum proposed in the Bill will be consultative, not self-executing.
“The Bill states that the question on the ballot paper should be – just as it was in 2014 – ‘should Scotland be an independent country’.
“There has been much commentary in recent days to the effect that a consultative referendum would not have the same status as the vote in 2014.
“That is simply wrong, factually and legally.
“The status of the referendum proposed in this Bill is exactly the same as the referendums of 1997, 2014 and 2016.
“The Bill includes the proposed date on which the referendum should be held.
“I can announce that the Scottish Government is proposing that the independence referendum be held on 19 October 2023.
“We must seek now to accelerate to the point when we have legal clarity; legal fact. And crucially, in doing so establish and safeguard the ability of this Parliament to deliver a referendum on the date proposed.
“The Lord Advocate has agreed to make a reference of the provisions in the Bill to the Supreme Court.
“I can confirm that the reference will be filed with the Supreme Court this afternoon.
“Obviously, it is this government’s hope that the question in this Bill, proposing a referendum that is consultative, not self-executing, and which would seek to ascertain the views of the Scottish people for or against independence, will be deemed to be within the legislative competence of this Parliament.
“If that outcome is secured, there will be no doubt whatsoever that the referendum is lawful. And I can confirm that the government will then immediately introduce the Bill and ask Parliament to pass the it on a timescale that allows the referendum to proceed on 19 October 2023.
“It is, of course, possible that the Supreme Court will decide that the Scottish Parliament does not have power to legislate for even a consultative referendum. Obviously, that would not be the clarity we hope for.
“But if that is what the law establishing this Parliament really means, it is better to have that clarity sooner rather than later.
“Because what it will clarify is this: any notion of the UK as a voluntary union of nations is a fiction. Any suggestion that the UK is a partnership of equals is false.
“There would be few stronger or more powerful arguments for independence than that.
“And it would not be the end of the matter. Far from it. Democracy demands that people must have their say.
“I want the process set in train today to lead to a lawful, constitutional referendum and for that to take place on 19 October 2023.
“But if the law says that is not possible, the General Election will be a ‘de facto’ referendum.
“Either way, the people of Scotland will have their say.”
“To believe in Scottish independence is to believe in a better future. It involves an unashamedly optimistic view of the world. The belief that things can be better than they are now.
“The people of Scotland have told us that they want the right to decide.
“Today we have set out the path to deliver it.”
THERE HAS BEEN A PREDICTABLE RESPONSE FROM OPPOSITION PARTIES:
A letter to the Prime Minister has been sent to inform him of the content of the statement and make clear that the Scottish Government is ready and willing to negotiate the terms of a section 30 order.
First Minister lays out her Programme for Government 2021/22
Leading Scotland safely out of the pandemic, urgently confronting climate change, driving a green, fair economic recovery, and boosting opportunities for children and young people are among the core priorities in this year’s Programme for Government (PfG), published yesterday.Oh … and there’s a referendum in there, too …
The programme sets out plans for a record increase in frontline health spending, new legislation for a National Care Service, a system providing low-income families with free childcare before and after school and during holidays, and actions to drive forward Scotland’s national mission to end child poverty.
The programme also includes plans to help secure a just transition to net zero – creating opportunities for new, good and green jobs, making homes easier and greener to heat, and encouraging people to walk, wheel or cycle instead of driving.
Speaking in Parliament, the First Minister said: “This programme addresses the key challenges Scotland faces, and aims to shape a better future.
“It sets out how we will tackle the challenge of Covid, and rebuild from it. It outlines how we will address the deep-seated inequalities in our society. It shows how we will confront with urgency the climate emergency, in a way that captures maximum economic benefit. And it details the steps we will take to mitigate, as far as we can, the damaging consequences of Brexit while offering a better alternative.
“In the face of these challenges, our ambition must be bold. This programme sets out clear plans to lead Scotland out of the greatest health crisis in a century and transform our nation and the lives of those who live here.
“We will deliver a National Care Service; double the Scottish Child Payment; and invest in affordable, energy efficient homes and green travel. We will ensure that businesses have the support, and people have the skills, to succeed in the low carbon economy of the future. We will show global leadership in tackling the climate crisis. And we will offer people an informed choice on Scotland’s future.
“To that end, I can confirm that the Scottish Government will now restart work on the detailed prospectus that will guide the decision. The case for independence is a strong one and we will present it openly, frankly and with confidence and ambition.
“This programme addresses our current reality, but it also looks forward with confidence and ambition to a brighter future. It recognises that out of the many challenges we currently face, a better Scotland – as part of a better world – is waiting to be built.”
Building on the progress from the first 100 days of this government, with the co-operation agreement with the Scottish Green Party at its heart, the PfG sets the scene for the next five years.
Key commitments for over the course of this Parliament include:
increasing frontline health spending by 20%, leading to an increase of at least £2.5 billion by 2026-27
undertaking the biggest public service reform since the founding of the NHS – the creation of a National Care Service – with legislation brought forward by June next year
improving national wellbeing with increased direct mental health investment of at least 25%, with £120 million this year to support the recovery and transformation of services
investing £250 million to tackle the drugs deaths emergency over the next five years
expanding the Scottish Child Payment to under-16s by the end of next year and doubling it to £20 a week as soon as possible after that, with a £520 bridging payment given to every child in receipt of free school meals this year
investing a further £1 billion to tackle the poverty-related attainment gap and providing councils with funding to recruit 3,500 additional teachers and 500 classroom assistants
providing free childcare to low income families before and after school and during holidays, and expanding free early learning and childcare to one and two year olds
investing £100 million over the next three years to support frontline services for preventing violence against women and girls
providing £1.8 billion to make homes easier and greener to heat, as part of a commitment to decarbonise 1 million homes by 2030
ensuring that at least 10% of the total transport budget goes on active travel by 2024-25, helping more people to cycle, wheel or walk instead of drive
delivering a revolution in children’s rights, including across the justice system
supporting a just transition to a low-carbon economy for people and businesses, including a £500 million Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray
investing an additional £500 million to support the new, good and green jobs of the future, including by helping people access training
delivering 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 and investing an additional £50 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping
taking forward the democratic mandate for a referendum on independence to be held within this Parliament and, if the Covid crisis is over, within the first half of this Parliament, while providing the people of Scotland with the information they need to make an informed choice on their future.
Commenting on yesterday’s Programme for Government announcement, Chris Birt, Associate Director for Scotland at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said:“Alarm bells should already be ringing in both the Scottish Government and Parliament that we are currently set to miss our child poverty targets, with no clear plan on how to achieve them.
“The Programme for Government published today pushes that plan further down the road, both to the budget later in the year and next year’s Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan.
“Time is running out on the targets. Families on low incomes across Scotland are experiencing growing financial pressure and uncertainty . They will hope the commitment to double the child payment “sooner rather than later” happens very soon and that our national mission to end child poverty gathers urgency and scale.”
The STUC welcomed the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government, specifically highlighting the commitments from the First Minister to implement national bargaining in the care sector, additional funding for the health service, gender recognition reform and justice for Scotland’s miners wrongfully arrested in the 1980s.
STUC General Secretary, Roz Foyer said: “Reform of our care sector cannot come quick enough and the STUC will engage fully in this legislation, campaigning for a National Care Service based on sectoral collective bargaining and not for profit delivery.
“The commitment of the First Minister to National Bargaining is therefore very welcome. However, the £800 million additional funding announced over the course of the Parliament is less than a quarter of the expenditure which the Feeley Review said was necessary for the social care sector.
“Yet we still have concerns that the Programme of Government tries too hard be all things to all people. It is simply not credible to raise the levels of investment required to tackle climate change, reduce inequality and create jobs while at the same time boasting about the lowest business taxes in UK and freezing income tax rates for the duration of the Parliament.
“The same lack of ambition is reflected in today’s Scottish Government response to the report of the Just Transition Commission which leaves much to be desired on future job creation and ensuring the burden of climate change is not carried by workers and the less well off.
“Fighting discrimination and inequality is at the heart of trade unions, we know trans people are some of the most disadvantaged and discriminated people in Scotland and the gender recognition bill is therefore extremely welcome in enabling trans people to access their human rights.
“Finally, I welcome the proposed Miners’ Strike Pardon Bill. It has been all too clear for decades that the miners were the victims of a politically inspired political attack and that organs of the state, including the police, were used to repress their legitimate industrial action.
“This Bill will help provide some relief to the thousands of lives were wrecked by wrongful arrest and is a testament to years of campaigning by working class families who refused to give up.”
GMB Scotland Secretary Louise Gilmour said:“The need to tackle the crisis in care is accepted, but the challenge is to end years of exploitation by giving care workers substantial pay increases. That’s how we’ll confront the understaffing crisis and transform the sector.
“It’s why GMB is campaigning for £15 an hour minimum for care workers. The prospect of staff remaining mired in wages of just under or over £10 an hour isn’t credible.
“And there is a growing consensus supporting that view, including among Cabinet Secretaries as the Greens committed to a £15 minimum in their recent manifesto, so we need to make it happen.
“If we are prepared to be bold and deliver proper value for workers across the social care sector then there is a huge opportunity to be grasped, everyone will benefit and Scotland will be fairer for it.”
Joanne Smith, policy and public affairs manager for NSPCC Scotland, said: “Recovery and reform are very much needed as we move forward from the pandemic, and this year’s Programme for Government is the first step in this journey.
“For children in Scotland to have the best start in life, it is vital that all families can access holistic support, where and when they need it, and so we are heartened by the Scottish Government’s announcement of a Whole Family Wellbeing Fund.
“In line with the Promise’s recommendations we would like to see that national spending prioritises early, preventative support for families, therefore stripping out demand for crisis-led services.
“We are also greatly encouraged by the Scottish Government’s commitment to review and redesign the Children’s Hearing System. Through our work with very young children and families in Glasgow, we see the limitations of current justice processes in meeting the distinct needs of infants and their families.
“Given that around a third of children who come into care in Scotland are under the age of five, we need to ensure justice processes are better aligned with infants’ developmental timescales. We look forward to working alongside the Review team to ensure that the rights of infants are upheld throughout the process.”
Mary Glasgow Chief Executive of the charity Children 1st said: “Today’s Programme for Government has rightly prioritised the right of children and their families to know they can access the help and support they need whenever they need it.
“Children 1st have long called for a transformation in the support available to families, which must be based on learning from the – often difficult – experiences of children and their families when they have needed practical, emotional or financial help.
“The proposed £500m investment in a ‘Whole Family Wellbeing Fund’ is a hugely welcome step forward and we are committed to working alongside children and their families, and the Scottish Government, to turn this significant investment into practical action.”
Tracy Black, CBI Scotland Director, said:“With Glasgow hosting COP26 later this year, the Scottish Government is right to focus on its plans for a net zero economy. Yet given the need to cement Scotland’s economic recovery post-pandemic, businesses will feel there ought to have been a greater focus on boosting growth. While there were encouraging mentions of greater access to finance, the devil will be in the detail.
“Firms are already decarbonising their operations, and, by working alongside government, can help urgently transform net zero ambitions into action. Reforming the planning and business rates systems – enabling much needed in investment in low carbon infrastructure – would help achieve ambitious climate targets.
“The First Minister is also right to highlight that COVID hasn’t gone away. Scottish firms have worked tirelessly throughout the crisis to keep staff and customers safe. Businesses are not calling for a rushed return to the workplace, though employers will rightly be speaking with their employees about a gradual return in line with the latest guidance.
“As the economy reopens, skills shortages remain a key concern, so employers will be frustrated not to hear more about plans for upskilling and retraining.
“Business investment is absolutely vital to Scotland’s economic recovery, and the government should do everything in its power to attract – not repel – investment and the very best talent. Ultimately, by working more closely with business to create sustainable economic growth, ministers will be able to achieve their goals of improving people’s living standards and public services.”
The banking organisations, through incompetence, nearly made the country bankrupt but the debt was passed on to the people to shoulder. They had to accept a lot of unemployment, higher prices in the shops, frozen wages and severe cuts to public and social services.
To avoid any resistance, the authorities launched a campaign of diversion and blame. Everyone can remember how different sections of society were blamed in turn: the unemployed for not working, the disabled for being on benefits – all were targets to be blamed.
This went on for many years and people had taken enough of austerity; there was a growing mood for change, calling for the authorities to take the banking industry into public ownership and impose tighter controls over financial institutions.
This fast-growing popular demand was greatly feared by the political elite. It took them quite a while to develop an idea to divert these demands, but after eight years they were successful. It was a continuation of the blame game, but this time not blaming our own people but any and all those coming from Europe – and the idea of a Referendum was born. They concentrated on three main issues: Control, Laws and Migration.
Since the referendum we have lost thousands of people wh o formerly worked in our social services and the NHS: these services are now struggling to keep going.
Most laws from the EU have been beneficial, adding to workers’ rights and conditions of employment. EU laws also protect the environment. The UK Parliament as a law-making body remains in control.
This is the most mentioned issue. For whom are the demanding control? The British people have already said they wanted the banks to be publicly owned and demanded tighter controls on financial institutions. Control is such a loose word that can be manipulated by individuals for the benefit of the few.
The promoters of the referendum conducted a continuous campaign of national ‘brainwashing’. Putting relentless pressure on people is not a new idea, as a look back at recent history will confirm.
But unfortunately nearly 50% of the population were aware of the implications of a break with Europe that is our biggest trader of imports and exports, and closest.
“It is imperative that the UK Government respects those who have exercised their treaty rights and chosen to make a life in Scotland.” – First Minister Nicola SturgeonContinue reading Reassurance sought for EU residents
First Minister hails progress in EU talks but it’s a ‘non’ from France – so much for the Auld Alliance – and Spain
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon held a series of positive meetings with senior figures in Brussels yesterday, but it’s clear there will be many obstacles to overcome if Scotland is to play an active role in Europe following the referendum result.Continue reading Open Doors, Open Minds?
Edinburgh Northern and Leith MSP Ben Macpherson has told EU nationals “you remain welcome here” after Scotland voted overwhelmingly to stay in the European Union last week.Continue reading EUr’e Welcome Here!
