Congratulations to Mr Sunak, the third UK prime minister in less than two months. It is a genuinely significant moment that the Conservative party his chosen its first British Asian leader and made him Prime Minister, albeit without a general election. Sadly, he immediately broke his promise to bring “integrity, professionalism and accountability” by the shabby deal to appoint extremist Suella Braverman as Home Secretary, someone that fails all three of these tests.
Meanwhile, his predecessor Liz Truss, who had the full backing of Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross, now has the distinction of being the shortest serving Prime Minister in history, as well as being as big an embarrassment to the country as Boris Johnson.
Politics in Westminster has gone beyond parody. The Tories have made Britain a global laughingstock. But it is not funny when people are paying for this Westminster circus financially and with their lives. A recent academic study attributed more than 330,000 excess deaths to the Tory / Liberal Democrat austerity policies introduced in 2010, to cut the benefits of the poor to pay for Labour’s bankers’ bailout.
And Truss joins the ever-increasing list of relatively young failed former UK Prime Ministers – Blair, Brown, Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss – able to claim £115,000 “office expenses” per year – for life!
Whilst the Labour Party now supports a hard Brexit and offers no real alternative policies to the Tories, the Scottish Government is working tirelessly to offer Scotland a way out of the scandal, waste and corruption.
The UK Supreme Court recently heard the Scottish Government’s case for the legality of another independence referendum without Westminster consent. It is difficult to see any constitutional arguments against this. If a referendum cannot be held to carry out the wishes of the Scottish people so clearly expressed in the 2021 Holyrood elections, then what does that say for democracy in the UK.
The extent of the economic case for Scottish independence is set out by the Scottish Government in the latest in a series of papers that clearly and honestly answer the questions that people have.
Here are a few of the incontrovertible truths from that paper.
The economy of the UK results in stagnant wages, and high inequality. UK Government policies are increasing instability and uncertainty. Financial markets now lack confidence in the UK. Scotland can escape this economic model that concentrates wealth in the hands of the few, and in London and the Southeast.
An independent Scotland will have lower energy prices and security of supply by increasing and diversifying our electricity-generating capacity, making better, greener use of Scotland’s abundant natural energy resources
We can escape the damage that Brexit has done to business. Scotland’s international trade will grow by being inside the European Single Market, the largest in the world and one that is seven times larger than the UK market. And Scottish businesses that are in desperate need of workers will have access to talented and committed people from across Europe and the world.
Scotland will retain the pound for as long as necessary, Sterling would be used by Scotland for wages, pensions and for everything we buy. And when the time is right, we will create our own currency. Some of the most successful European countries comparable to Scotland — like Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, and Norway — have their own currencies. Introducing the Scottish pound will help ensure Scotland can make the most of the full powers of independence.
The fact is that it is not just that Scotland can afford to be independent, but it can no longer afford not to be.
Only with full independence can we live in a country where decisions about how we use our assets, talents and resources reflect our values and democratic choices, allowing Scotland to develop the kind of inclusive, consensus-driven economic policies that serve other European countries so well.
