When – if, perhaps – you say that Scotland should be independent or that we should restore our independence, what do you mean by that? What is this independence that you seek? Because, as sure as eggs are eggs, your answer to that question is surely going to be different to someone else’s.
There were all sorts of ‘independence’ being put forward by people in 2014, and maybe that’s part of why the referendum was lost. Too many differing versions of what Scottish ‘independence’ should be.
But there’s an easy way to answer that question. Look again at the heading of this article. It says “End the Union”. Isn’t that what we should be fighting for? To end the union with England? Because if the union with England was ended, we’d be independent. And if we were independent, then we could all work to forge a new Scotland.
We’d rejoin the EU or not rejoin the EU. But it would be our decision. Maybe we’d vote to join Efta instead. Perhaps we’d opt to create our own fiat currency, like the US, Sweden, Denmark and Japan. We could open up new trades routes to Scandinavia and Europe without having to route our goods first through English ports. And we could decide what kind of defence would be suitable for Scotland.
The point is, we decide. There’s no one else that we need to ask. And the only way for us to decide anything on our own, is to leave the Union, leave the UK.
Think about that the next time you say that Scotland should be independent. The way to independence, our independence, Scotland’s restored independence, is simply to leave the Union.
And if we want to, we can. We don’t even have to ask.