Scottish Independence - A Historic Celtic Alliance Is Taking Shape
The meeting today in Cardiff of the leaders of the SNP, Plaid Cymru and Sinn Féin could prove to be a genuinely historic moment, not only for Scottish independence but for the future of the now not so united UK itself.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland now all have First Ministers from parties seeking fundamental constitutional change that will end the UK. Their nations have very different histories and different routes forward. The issue in Wales and Scotland is about independence, but in Ireland it's about reunification: Northern Ireland and Ireland itself. However, they share one basic democratic principle: the people of every nation must have the right to choose their own future. That is a basic democratic principle that really matters in the face of Westminster's outdated, almost British Empire-like thinking towards the UK's Celtic nations.
John Swinney, Rhun ap Iorwerth, Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O’Neill are beginning the process of building greater cooperation between their parties and nations. They will discuss the economy, energy and international cooperation, but crucially they will also call on the UK Government to accept the reality and to prepare for and agree the conditions for constitutional change
A welcome development
Believe in Scotland strongly welcomes that development. We have been arguing for some time that Scotland needn't fight for its constitutional rights in isolation. In our New Path to Independence strategy, first published in July last year and updated in May 26, we argued that Scotland, Wales and Ireland moving simultaneously towards constitutional change could fundamentally alter the political balance within the UK. We specifically called for the nationalist leaderships of the three Celtic nations to begin working together.
We have been lobbying for this approach for over a year and are delighted that this cooperation is now beginning to happen. It isn't only happening at the political party level. Believe in Scotland has already held meetings with YesCymru and Ireland’s Future. We are keen to continue building those relationships and to look at areas where the civic independence and reunification movements can work together.
We must keep the focus on our nation's right to choose.
However, the focus of this new Celtic cooperation must remain clear. The First Ministers will understandably discuss gaining additional powers for their governments. More powers may help Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland deal with immediate challenges, but this cannot become another constitutional process that ends with Westminster offering a slightly different version of devolution - Scotland fell for a false Vow once, and all three Celtic nations must learn from that mistake.
The fundamental issue is that the citizens of each nation must have the democratic right to choose the future of each nation.
Scotland and Wales must have the right to choose independence if that is what their people want. And the people of Ireland must be able to exercise the right, guaranteed through the Good Friday Agreement, to choose reunification. Westminster can't be allowed to erect roadblocks to democracy just because it doesn't like what the people will choose.
The longer-term opportunity
This new Celtic cooperation could point towards something much more ambitious. If Scotland and Wales become independent and Ireland reunifies, the end of the current failing UK political settlement need not mean the end of cooperation between the nations of these islands.
We would like to see the three Celtic FMs state that post-independence/unification, they would welcome a new Council of the Isles, where all four independent nations of the British Isles (Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England) work together as equals to create the best solutions on trade, energy, security, transport, the environment and our shared interests. Cooperation based on consent rather than control: that is the most positive constitutional future for the nations of those islands.
Believe in Scotland has been campaigning hard to make Scotland’s Right to Choose impossible for Westminster to ignore. In the last three months alone, we have distributed almost 75,000 campaign leaflets, run our Celtic Exit billboard campaign and almost 40,000 petition backers.
