It is time the UK apologised to Scotland for Brexit

Scotland told the UK not to Brexit - but they didn’t listen. We are now supposed to cheer as the UK gov limps slowly back - while trying not to admit that they got it wrong. 

They have now announced that the UK is to rejoin the Erasmus study programme - in 2027. Great. It is good news that young people's prospects will improve a little.

But are we supposed to crack open the champagne and forget all the years of sneering refusal to treat Scotland's remain vote as if we were an equal partner in the Union?

Years of wasted opportunity lie ahead as the UK makes a snail’s progress back to the EU institutions they dragged Scotland out of. 

Before Brexit, Britain was doing well relative to its peers. Now growth in real GDP per head is among the lowest in the G7. “The Economic Impact of Brexit” recently published by the US National Bureau of Economic Research concluded “that by 2025, Brexit has reduced UK GDP by 6 to 8 per cent”.

Brexit has put the UK out on a limb at a time of global uncertainty: this week the US paused implementation of the multi-billion UK–US “tech prosperity deal” that we heard so much about. That is leverage, that is Trump putting the squeeze on the UK, to get it to roll over on digital regulation and tax. 

It has never been more important for European democracies to work together on defence, energy resilience and cyber security. The UK wanted access to EU defence procurement fund SAFE - but it is not getting it.

Scotland voted differently. Our Settled democratic will on Europe warned of the dangers of leaving. Scotland deserves an apology for the fact that the UK:

• denied Scotland a say, 
• ignored our democratic voice, 
• refused to acknowledge that we made a different choice, 
• refused to negotiate with the Scottish government.

Scotland deserves an apology for the fact that the UK

• damaged the life chances of many Scots, young and old
• screwed up our most important trading relationships, 
• shrank our economy, 
• blighted sectors that depend on seasonal migration, 
• harmed communities who lost members, and access to services provided by EU workers

Independence is what Scotland needs

We don’t want to be dragged around by another country that treats us as inferior and doesn’t give us a voice on important decisions. An independent Scotland would never have left Europe and when Scotland achieves its independence our readmission to the EU will be faster and smoother than any previous applicant. Scotland will have choices of full membership or Single Market membership - that should be decided in a post independence referendum on the issue with full membership the odds on favourite. 

In the EU, Scotland will be treated as an equal partner, with a seat at the Council of Ministers and a place at every negotiation, on the same level as other countries.  

Scotland will be equal in the EU

• Not lesser
• Not unimportant
• Not to be ignored  

Within the UK, Scotland is treated as an inferior partner, whose voice doesn’t matter. Scots do not even have the right to decide their own future with another referendum.

Scotland voted Remain

Scotland voted to Remain in 2016 - across every single council area. Yet the Scottish government’s demands for that to be recognised by Westminster received only a sneering refusal. Yet the anti-independence campaign in 2014 told Scots to vote No to protect their seat at the EU’s top table. 

That campaign also asked Scotland to stay “to lead not leave”. 

But when a decision on the material circumstances of the UK was taken in defiance of the strongly expressed wishes of the Scottish people, Scotland was told to suck it up. And then we are told that we can’t have another independence referendum under any circumstances.

Nigel’s got a new scapegoat

The reason for the timidity of the UK government is because they are scared of the electoral might of Reform. 

Of course, Nigel Farage and his cronies were once the Brexit Party. They turned their back on the powerful European anthem which echoes the words of Robert Burns:  “It’s coming soon the world o’er that man to man shall brithers be for a’ that.”

Schiller rewrote his Ode to Joy that forms the words of the European anthem in 1803, specifically including the line “"Alle Menschen Werden Bruder" and Beethoven included it in his Ninth Symphony. Beethoven was a great admirer of Robert Burns and some scholars think that Schiller borrowed that line from him.

The Brexit Party has moved on and found a new scapegoat under their new name ‘Reform UK’. They used to claim that the EU was responsible for Britain’s ills - they claimed leaving the EU would mean reduced immigration.

We warned that reducing access to the pool of seasonal workers and people who could come and go through freedom of movement would mean that permanent migration would have to rise. It did. 

Reform doesn't like to talk about that. They prefer to focus on migrants who arrive in small boats - although they make up less than 0.3% of the population. 

The UK Government doesn’t like to say it out loud. But the decision to rejoin Erasmus and to work towards new deals on trade, defence and cyber security is a silent admission that Brexit was a mistake.

An independent Scotland would never have left and with independence, Scotland would be smoothly admitted into the EU, the single market, the customs union, the freedom to trade, to tour, to live, work and settle down across 27 countries.

Scotland doesn’t have to spend the next decade watching London limp back towards Europe while refusing to acknowledge its mistake. Scotland can choose to go back - not slinking in denial - but as an independent country with a clear destination and desire for partnership with our European family members.