
INDEPENDENCE BY DEFAULT
The Collapse of the United Kingdom and How to Deal With It
I was astonished at the speed of the Labour government’s collapse following the general election in July. Perhaps it was not so surprising. Labour won by virtue of not being the Conservatives and the electors found out in short order that all they had was a change of name. Rachel Reeves started out as she clearly means to go on. By removing or denying benefits from those who needed them most she now intends to continue with austerity mk2.
The greater England project heads for the rocks at full speed.
By coincidence just a couple of days ago business analyst and economics researcher Umair Haque published an article outlining the collapse of the UK in detail. The article was intended as a warning to other western countries but the comprehensive analysis of the political and economic collapse which the UK is more than half way through is incisive:
“To look at Britain’s economy today is to shudder. Things are going badly, badly wrong — on an astonishing scale. Brits will tell you that “nothing works,” and that’s true — but the truer problem is deeper than that still. Britain is now in an economic doom loop. And what’s worse is that — while it’s elementary economics — nobody much in power seems to a) recognize it b) understand it c) have a plan to stop it.”
So, what of Scotland’s place in this?
We have two alternatives. One is to continue and hope for an independence ballot soon – very soon. The other is to let things happen and whinge about it. Neither is a good option.
But there is a third way.
If forecasters, including the likes of the IMF, are correct and in particular if the UK indulges in yet another round of public spending cuts, then crisis will hit as early as next year. It is perfectly possible that the English nationalists who are already taking over politics south of the border will be only too happy to see the back of Scotland which they are pleased to tell us at every opportunity are a cost to the exchequer, we may well find ourselves with an open door to independence. But are we ready for it? Are we prepared? And how do we follow a constitutional path to recognition without further resistance from the shambles of a UK state?
The problems:
1. The Scottish parliament is founded on the English model of parliamentary sovereignty and furthermore does not have the powers to follow a path to independence. It was designed that way.
2. Although a great deal of research has been carried out by various groups and organisations on virtually every aspect of what Scottish society wants and needs, no organised convention with full access to the public has yet come into existence with the purpose of bringing everything together and presenting it to the people as the blueprint for the independent state to come.
3. There is a serious deficit of local and regional democracy which restricts the ability for communities to have active and meaningful participation in the way that their communities are run for the benefit of their populations. This lack of power tends to make involvement in a national movement lukewarm at best and militates against the general quality of life.
Our suggestions about how to address these problems:
1. The Scottish parliament was designed for a purpose and that purpose was not intended to be the benefit of the Scottish people. It doesn’t matter whether its members actively or passively support that principle, it is the way things are. Thus an SNP administration is still unable to take the steps necessary. But what of the party? Party members do not need to be obliged to follow the limited abilities of MSPs. The SNP, outside of Holyrood and, better still, in conjunction with Alba, ISP and others can, if the will is there, operate independently of their Holyrood brethren and pull together a national movement. Such a movement would have the ability, by its very existence, to address some or even all of the issues in 2 &3.
2. If the kind of timescale I have outlined above is what we are facing, then a full-scale convention is an urgent necessity and with the help of the political movement (NOT the parliamentary representatives), this can happen with authority in the minds of the public. I have set out before, the structure of the convention (see archives). The convention passes resolutions and voting can be invited on each. This is what Scotland Decides is designed to enable. The platform has been carefully designed to accord with international protocols and is fully verifiable as well as being both quicker and cheaper than conventional paper voting. The registration fee is designed to ensure that the system is not compromised or unduly influenced by external forces. It means that any vote is the property and authority of the public and no one else.
3. One of the great deficits in democracy in Scotland is the lack of local power. Existing local authorities lack many of the powers their representative organisation, COSLA, have been campaigning for with the Scottish government for years with little success. Below this level things are even worse. Community councils have virtually no access to funding and public participation at community level is patchy at best. There is no formal reference to public opinion if the levels of democracy do not wish it. RSS have been working on the development of local democratic assemblies and have presented a petition to the Scottish parliament in respect of ICCPR which, if adopted, represents the mainstay of the public right to self-determination. This UN convention opens a lot of doors for direct democracy. If you have not signed the petition yet, please consider doing so here: https://petitions.parliament.scot/petitions/PE2135
Scotland Decides exists for the very purpose of providing voting rights without the need to follow Westminster rules. As the process of self-determination grows into full independence, our voting system will be a game changer in allowing us to do whatever our people want to do without asking permission from anyone else. Please register and consider donating. If you wish to help, please contact us at david@scotlanddecides.org or by sending a message via chat.
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