Independence isn't going away no matter how much Keir Starmer wishes
A GROUP of leading pro-independence campaigners have written to Keir Starmer about his diktat that there will be no second Scottish independence referendum even if Scots choose to elect a pro-independence majority of MSPs at next year's Scottish Parliament election.
Writer and broadcaster Lesley Riddoch, Believe in Scotland (BiS) founder Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp and Common Weal's head of policy and research Dr Craig Dalzell are all amongst those who have signed the letter as have former BBC Scotland presenter Ken Macdonald and Dr Tim Rideout, the convener of the Scottish Currency Group.
The group wrote: "So this is a statement of our intent to keep campaigning for independence, an option currently favoured by more than half the Scottish population in recent opinion polls, and for the democratic right to choose – something embedded in legislation for Northern Ireland but repeatedly denied to Scotland."
The group continued: "The Labour leader may think he is simply challenging the SNP before a critical by-election this week and Scottish elections next year. But Scotland's future is not an electoral game.
"By denying a second referendum regardless of the 2026 election outcome, the Prime Minister is snubbing democracy, devolution and the many Scots who once viewed his party as the best democratic option to the Conservatives at Westminster."
The group added that Labour, the Conservatives and Reform UK "clearly offer no democratic resolution to Scotland's constitutional impasse".
The letter concludes by saying that this is "precisely why we restate our determination to keep working towards independence".
Of course, Starmer will file this letter in the bin, he pays attention only to focus groups stuffed with Reform UK-leaning voters from England, but it's still useful to remind a man elected on one third of votes cast in last summer's Westminster General Election that he cannot indefinitely deny the 54% or more of Scots who want independence the right to a say on the constitutional future of their country.
The issue of Scottish independence is not going to go away, no matter how much Starmer and his allies in the Scottish branch office might wish it would.
Back to genocide-enabling business as usual
It's just over a week since Foreign Secretary David Lammy stood up in the House of Commons and told MPs that the British Government said, "tsk, tsk," to Israel over its genocide in Gaza, and its withholding of food supplies as a tool to assist in the ethnic cleansing of the territory, although of course Lammy couldn't bring himself to utter the G-word. Lammy announced that the UK was suspending trade talks with Israel in protest over the genocide that must not be mentioned.
Yet within a week of Lammy's statement, Labour peer Ian Austin, who is the UK Government's trade envoy to Israel, was seen on a visit to the country where he said he was going to "meet businesses and officials to promote trade with the UK". The UK Government insisted that despite the suspension of any new trade talks with Israel, the UK still has a trading relationship with Israel.
In other words, Lammy's statement was purely performative, like telling a naughty child that you're very cross with them, but then giving them money for sweeties anyway. Only in this case the naughty child is slaughtering tens of thousands of people in a genocidal war of destruction and is openly advertising its intention to ethnically cleanse two million Palestinians and permanently remove them from their homeland. Instead of giving money for sweeties, the British Government is continuing to supply Israel with the weaponry and intelligence and logistical support it needs to complete its destruction of Gaza and render it uninhabitable.
But it's back to genocide-enabling business as usual for Labour. A group of Labour MPs have visited Israel on a lobbying trip as the country's brutal assault on Gaza intensifies. The party's most prominent pro-Israel group, Labour Friends of Israel (LFI), sent a delegation of parliamentarians including chair Jon Pearce, as well as fellow Labour MPs Cat Eccles, Kevin McKenna, Peter Prinsley and Mark Sewards. The group has been accompanied by former Labour MP and House of Lords member Luciana Berger.
During their trip, the group met with Israeli politicians who have insisted it is "legitimate" to withhold food aid from Palestinian civilians. These include Yair Golan, leader of Labour's sister party, the Democrats.
In October 2023 Golan said: 'I think that in this battle, it is forbidden to allow a humanitarian effort. We need to say to them: listen, until the [captives] are released, from our side, you can die from starvation. It's totally legitimate."
At Prime Minister's Questions today, SNP MP Brendan O'Hara confronted Starmer with the revelation that UK Government lawyers arguing in the High Court had said that 'no genocide has occurred or is occurring' in Gaza.
O'Hara said: 'The Prime Minister has repeatedly told this House that it is not for him or his government to determine what is and what is not a genocide. But that position is no longer tenable because at the High Court recently, the Prime Minister instructed his lawyers to argue that in Gaza, and I quote, 'no genocide has occurred or is occurring'.
'So the truth is, his government has made a determination. The question is: does he have the courage of his convictions and will he repeat from that despatch box what he told his lawyers to argue in the High Court? That he believes that no genocide has occurred or is occurring in Gaza?"
Predictably, Starmer did not address the point the SNP MP had made, and retorted with an adolescent and irrelevant gibe at the SNP's opposition to nuclear weapons.
Starmer said: 'I have said that we are strongly opposed and appalled by Israel's recent actions, I've been absolutely clear in condemning them and calling them out; whether that's the expansion of military operations, settler violence or the dreadful blocking of aid, it's completely unacceptable.
'We must see a ceasefire, hostages must be released and there must be aid into Gaza.
'But he talks about peace and security, their party, as I understand it at this moment of global instability as we go into a new era, what do they want to do? They want to get rid of the nuclear deterrent, the single most important capability that we have to keep the UK safe, harming the industry and harming the country.'
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Glasgow Times
29 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Residents against 'devastating' loss of trees for Paisley development
Planning permission for the construction of more than 600 homes on the site off Grahamston Road was initially declined by Renfrewshire Council in 2021 but was then granted with conditions in 2021 by a Scottish Government Reporter. Another planning application went in last year to remove trees on the site that was again refused by the council twice, before being granted by a Scottish Government Reporter. Grounds of Dykebar Hospital (Image: Colin Mearns, Newsquest) Clare says she is concerned that because planning permission has been given to remove the trees before all planning conditions for the development have been met, they could be felled unnecessarily. The 50-year-old said: 'I thought the original one [planning proposal] intended to preserve the trees but apparently not. "The most recent application was to allow the developer to remove the trees before any construction starts. "This again was refused by the council, the developer appealed to the council, and they refused again and then the developer has appealed to the Scottish reporter who has then approved it. "I've been told it effectively means they could remove all the trees before meeting the conditions of the original planning application. "It seems so devastating to potentially lose all or any of those trees unnecessarily before they've met all the conditions of the plans." (Image: Colin Mearns, Newsquest) Cala Homes, Bellway House and Barrett Homes will be building 603 houses with Cala Homes stating on their website they expect the first residents to move in in 2027. Mum-of-two Clare has lived near the site for around 12 years, but as she resides in Barrhead she feels 'powerless' to do anything about it. She said: "There are a lot of people who feel strongly about it. "It's wider than just the people who live right next to the site." She continued: "I'm not in the council area but it affects everyone who lives nearby but I'm powerless to say anything because I'm not a resident of Renfrewshire." (Image: Colin Mearns, Newsquest) Clare is also frustrated that despite the local council rejecting the plans, a Scottish Government reporter from "who lives out with the area" made the decision to approve the plans. Campaign group Save Paisley's Green Space (SPGS), who have been vocal in their opposition to the development, started a petition on two months ago calling for planning permission at Dykebar to be revoked. The petition states: "SPGS argues that the planning permission is erroneous and warrants revocation to prevent huge environmental damage and to protect the community and remaining countryside amenity of Paisley South." At the time of writing, it has gathered more than 1880 signatures. (Image: Colin Mearns, Newsquest) Both the SPGS and Clare also say they believe the development goes against the Scottish Government's National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) policy 6 which says: "b) development proposals will not be supported where they will result in: "i. Any loss of ancient woodlands, ancient and veteran trees, or adverse impact on their ecological condition; "ii. Adverse impacts on native woodlands, hedgerows and individual trees of high biodiversity value, or identified in the Forestry and Woodland Strategy." Clare says the green space is valuable to the local community, as well as being home to wildlife such as deer, foxes, buzzards and woodpeckers. She said: "When you walk around, you see a lot of people out walking their dogs or running. "It's used recreationally by a lot of people. "The thought of that space being lost forever is really sad and it's got to the point now where I almost don't want to go there because it's too upsetting thinking it's not going to be there anymore. "For people who appreciate trees and wild open space, it's a really special place." (Image: Colin Mearns, Newsquest) A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "An independent reporter from DPEA granted approval for the redevelopment of the former Dykebar Hospital in March 2023. "The reporter was required to make their decision on the planning merits of the case taking full account of all the information submitted by parties involved, including members of the local community. "Scottish Ministers appointed a reporter to consider the appeal of the decision of Renfrewshire Council to refuse tree works consent in respect of tree removal and pruning along the north and eastern boundary of the Dykebar Hospital grounds. "The reporter allowed the appeal and planning permission was approved at appeal."
The Herald Scotland
39 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Britain is Scottish: a truth from history that's still true today
A couple of examples. James Boswell's diaries for Sunday 21 November 1762 describe his meeting with a fellow Scot Walter Macfarlane who was 'keenly interested in the reigning contests between Scots & English'. Boswell says this of Macfarlane: 'He talked much against the Union. He said we were perfect underlings, that our riches were carried out of the country and that many others were hurt by it.' Switch the date from 1762 to 2025 and some of the language but not much of it, and this is very familiar stuff. Another example. There's been a bit of a fad of late for books about James VI, focusing mostly on what his sexuality might have been, but I quite enjoyed The Wisest Fool by Steven Veerapen and, as with Boswell, there are striking familiarities with now. In the bookstalls of London and Edinburgh in the early years of James's reign, there were pamphlets explaining why unionism was a wonderful idea and pamphlets explaining why unionism was a terrible idea. There were also Brexit-style arguments over what kind of union Scotland and England should have; was the best idea some kind of loose federation or should the countries go for a much closer, Wales-style deal instead? So ancient, so modern. On top of all that, there's now a new piece of work that suggests a more surprising historic take on the relationship between Scotland and Britain. It's by the Glasgow University Professor Dauvit Broun and it concludes that medieval Scottish historians and scholars regarded the Scottish kingdom as equivalent to Britain; Britain as fundamentally Scottish in fact. 'Scotland as Britain can be detected quite clearly in histories of the Scottish kingdom written in Latin and read by Scots between the 1380s and 1520s,' says the professor. Professor Broun says this idea of Britain as fundamentally Scottish will be provocative in today's polarised debates about national identity and I can see what he means. There are some Scots today who think one of the big problems in the debate about national identity is that there are English people who project their sense of nationhood on to Scotland, do not appear to respect the separate Scottish identity, or actually conflate England and Britain. I don't think this happens as much as we think, but when it does, it's irritating. Read more However, what makes the idea of the English projecting their sense of nationhood onto Scotland more interesting is Professor Broun's idea that it's happened the other way around as well and there are Scots who conflated Britain and Scotland. The professor quotes John Mair, sometimes called the father of Scottish unionism, and says Mair's vision was essentially of a Scottish kingdom expanded to include England. Mair assumed a Scottish king would come to rule Britain which is indeed what happened in the end. As we know, the king that did it, James VI and I, was certainly of the Better Together persuasion; 'this kingdom was divided into seven little kingdoms,' he said in an address to parliament, 'Is it not the stronger by their union?' But a Scottish king projecting his sense of self, and nation, and union, onto England wasn't the beginning or the end of it. Indeed, the extent of the Scottish projection or influence on England and the UK makes me wonder how surprising and provocative the idea of Britain as Scottish really is. It seems to me that it still underlines the way the United Kingdom works. Britain was Scottish and still is. Obviously, England remains the dominant partner constitutionally and politically, but even politically Britain has often been Scottish. One of the history books I've opened recently is The Wild Men by my former colleague David Torrance, which relates how Scottish the first Labour government was, but it's continued ever since with Scots often at the top of British government, and not always when it's Labour in power. The history books also tell us it was bigger than that: much of the British Empire is covered with Scottish fingerprints so not only is Britain Scottish, the British Empire is Scottish too. James VI and I (Image: Free) The signs of Scotland as Britain are more permanent as well; they're built in stone. I did a walk round Glasgow recently with Colin Drysdale, the author of Glasgow Uncovered, a book on the city's architecture, and many of the architects we talked about went way beyond Scotland and had a massive influence on England and Britain too. John James Burnet, for example, designed Glasgow's Charing Cross Mansions and lots of other fine buildings in the city. But he also worked on British icons like Selfridges and the British Museum. Visit London and look at the buildings and a lot of what you're looking at is Scottish. The projection of Scotland onto Britain is everywhere else as well, once you start to look for it. Business and trade (the vast majority of our exports are to England). Population: there are more Scots living in England than there are in any single Scottish city. And music, culture, the arts, food, drink, technology. And Lulu of course. All of it, as well as our influence on politics and government – and a Royal family that's arguably more Scottish than English – says to me that the idea of Britain as Scotland is not surprising at all. Professor Broun says it raises fundamental questions about the nature of British identity, so let me suggest an answer. The concept of Britain as Scottish isn't a distant idea in the minds of medieval scholars. It still exists, it's still real, and it's still proving how interconnected we are. And of course, it raises the eternal question, the one that bugged us then and bugs us now: how much would it cost to unravel it all?
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
So now you know, SNP: indy is not what people care about
There may have been little talk of independence in the campaign but Katy Loudon, the SNP candidate, put out a Facebook video on the morning of the by-election which made clear it's all about separating us from the rest of the UK. The unionist parties' share of the vote at the by-election was just short of 66%. If that doesn't send a clear message to the SNP and the Greens that independence is not what is important at the moment, I don't know what will. Maybe if the SNP improved our NHS, our education system, housing, our infrastructure, managed to build ferries and dual our roads on time and improve our economy, it might get more support. That would be novel, would it not? Jane Lax, Aberlour. Nothing short of humiliation It wasn't only the kitchen sink that the SNP flung at the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election. It threw the washing machine, tumble drier and dishwasher as well. Anyone who saw on social media the gangs of SNP enthusiasts roaming the constituency, saturating it with MSPs including ministers, as well as foot soldiers, with a massive intensity, for weeks and especially in the last two weeks, must have imagined that it was a seat they could not lose. I wondered, in the last days, whether the SNP was not engaging in overkill, that the good folk of the constituency might be saturated with SNP propaganda to the point of apathy. The turnout, at 44 per cent, suggested that as a partial possibility. In this by-election, it was possible to utilise all the party's resources, and it did. That would not be remotely a possibility in any one constituency in a General Election. The result was nothing short of humiliation for the SNP. It is also a personal humiliation for John Swinney, who spent much time in the last week campaigning in the constituency rather than attending to First Minister's business. Nothing much will change at Holyrood, of course, but Mr Swinney's insistence that Scotland does not welcome Reform UK looks a bit hollow after it scooped up 26 per cent of the vote. Perhaps we can have a break from his preaching about Scotland being allegedly more moral than England. Ah well, one can but hope. Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh. Read more letters For many, politics is not working It is alarming that, in Thursday's by-election, Reform UK came third with 7,088 votes, a mere 1,471 behind Labour. The victorious Labour candidate, Davy Russell, is quoted as saying that 'this community has [also] sent a message to Farage and his mob tonight. The poison of Reform isn't us – it isn't Scotland and we don't want your division here.' I suspect Mr Russell was speaking from within the excitement of winning and did not realise the significance of Reform UK winning so many votes. The party of Nigel Farage, that enthusiastic Trump supporter, was understood to hold little attraction for the Scottish voter compared with his standing with the English electorate. The Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse voters have demonstrated otherwise. The UK political establishment, Labour in particular, has one important lesson to learn, that being that politics in our country is not working for a significant element of our population. The vote for a disastrous Brexit was the first warning sign of a significant discontent with the inequalities and injustices in our society and economy. Uncontrolled neoliberalism has done untold damage to our social contract with our politicians accepting unquestionably the words of Mrs Thatcher, 'there is no alternative'. John Milne, Uddingston. Reform will be a Holyrood force The most interesting thing about the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election for Holyrood is not who won, Labour, nor the fact that the voting was a three-way split between it, the SNP and Reform UK, but where Reform's votes came from. Compared to its vote share in the constituency in the last Holyrood election four years ago, the SNP vote dropped by almost 17% of the votes cast and the Tory vote by 11.5%. Labour's vote share actually went down by 2% as well. This means that Reform UK's 26% of the vote came more from parties of the left than the Tories. Clearly Reform is not just a threat to the Conservatives. In the climate of dissatisfaction with the established parties, Reform is on track to be a force at Holyrood next year. Otto Inglis, Crossgates, Fife. • After all the ballyhoo, the result is in and the real winner is Reform UK. John Swinney talked Reform up too effectively. Labour's candidate was nearly invisible. The result speaks volumes. The SNP lost. Labour just limped home despite being helped a huge amount by the SNP's travails. Reform UK came from a near-zero base to gain over 7,000 votes and run both other parties close. This by-election was a real test of public opinion for the shape of Holyrood in 2026. Reform could still founder given frequent party in-fighting. Equally the Tories could re-assert their desired position as defenders of the Union. John Swinney has made another major SNP blunder and released the genie from the bottle. Is he going to be the architect of the SNP's downfall? Dr Gerald Edwards, Glasgow. Labour far from home and hosed While Labour's victory in the Hamilton by-election seemingly points to the party winning the Scottish Parliament elections next year, if I were Anas Sarwar, I wouldn't be sizing up the curtains of Bute House just yet. The seat was won comfortably by the SNP in the last Scottish Parliament election in 2021 and is just the sort of seat that Labour needs to win if Anas Sarwar is to become Scotland's next First Minister. The SNP has made little progress in restoring its fortunes following its heavy defeat in last summer's Westminster election, with polls suggesting that the party's support across Scotland is still 15 points down on its tally in 2021. In the event, the fall in the party's support in Hamilton was, at 17 points, just a little higher than that. However, Labour's own tally was also down by two points on its vote in 2021, when overall the party came a disappointing third. That drop was very much in line with recent polling, which puts the party at just 19 per cent across Scotland as a whole, while the SNP has around a third of the vote. In addition, Labour is losing somewhere between one in six and one in five of its voters to Reform since last year's election. After nearly two decades in the political wilderness, there is little sign that Labour, as it currently stands, is set to regain the reins of power at Holyrood. Alex Orr, Edinburgh. Now flesh out the policies All the pundits initially claimed the Hamilton by-election would go to Labour, given local circumstances. Now a Labour win is described as a 'shock' after even some in Labour were describing their own candidate as not up to the job. But Labour needs to up its game for the next election. Criticism is easy, but Labour needs more fleshed-out policies for government, beyond centralising health in Scotland. The SNP needs to drop all the 'student politics' stuff; it was embarrassing to see a squabble over £2 million when it should be asking why Scotland does so poorly on defence procurement and jobs. Formulate a proper industrial policy for Scotland, and back any project that would enhance jobs and prosperity for Scotland. Refuse nothing and put the onus on unionists to explain their plans in detail. Trident: are the unionist plans for keeping Trident in Scotland similar to those for Diego Garcia? Nuclear power: why do they think Scotland should have it, given its high-cost electricity and the extensive lags on construction? What of waste disposal and site security? The SNP should be in favour of local pricing for electricity as a draw to attract jobs, and for North Sea oil/gas production (until Scots are empowered to decide its future). A Labour/SNP coalition? It looks like the only feasible outcome. GR Weir, Ochiltree. • For all the fuss about the Hamilton by-election, it should be noted that almost 56% of the electorate really don't care who represents them in the Scottish Parliament. Malcolm Parkin, Kinross. Russia claim is baseless Brian Wilson ("Yes, we should stand firm over Putin, but let's not make Russia our implacable foe", The Herald, June 5) tells us today that the rights of the former Soviet republics to seek security (membership of Nato) should have been balanced against Russian fears of encirclement. This raises two issues. Firstly, the Soviet Union consisted of 15 republics: the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russia itself) and 14 others. Of these, only three (the Baltic states,which were independent between the wars) have joined Nato. I am unclear as to how this constitutes encirclement. Does Mr Wilson envisage the Central Asian former republics (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan etc) expressing a wish to join the alliance at some point, thus making encirclement a reality rather than a baseless claim? Secondly, does Mr Wilson not wonder why these small countries wished to be under the umbrella of the Nato alliance? To avoid the current fate of Ukraine perhaps? Alan Jenkins, Glasgow. • Brian Wilson expresses the hope that we should not categorise the Russian people as being inevitably in the enemy camp. He concluded his article by observing that narratives about Russia should have "due regard to past history and also future potential for peaceful co-existence". Such narratives should certainly not fail to take account of the contribution made by Russian armed forces and the civilian population during the Second World War, which is estimated to have resulted in some 25 million Soviet deaths. It is clear that the Russian effort during that war was profoundly influential in assisting toward the eventual defeat of Germany. The Russian people at the time called upon impressive levels of love of country and perseverance in the fight toward victory over a formidable enemy. Once we were allies. While Russia remains in the firm grip of the dictatorial, ambitious and ruthless Vladimir Putin, it is difficult to see to what extent meaningful steps can be taken to pursue the "potential for peaceful co-existence". Ian W Thomson, Lenzie. A Pride rally in Glasgow (Image: PA) Pride needed now as much as ever Gregor McKenzie (Letters, June 6) suggests that LGBT Pride has had its day. In fact, since the end of the pandemic restrictions, more people have been going to more Pride events across Scotland than ever before. Why? I think it's in part because people see how, after several positive changes in the law for LGBT people in the past 25 years, things are now starting to get worse again. Mr McKenzie asks why we can't all just let people be, and I wish we could. But the increased restrictions being introduced on trans people in the UK are quite the opposite of that. Trans people just want to get on with their lives, but the new rules make that much more difficult. And trans people are constantly maligned currently by some parts of the media. So Pride events are needed as much now as ever. They are a celebration of how far we have come in the 30 years since the first Pride Scotland, and they are a protest against the regression we're seeing now. One day perhaps Pride will be solely a celebration, but that day still seems some way off. Meanwhile people join together in the streets to say "Not going back". Tim Hopkins, Edinburgh.
