Scotland is a beautiful sovereign nation.
In a nutshell
We should have another independence referendum.
It should be for the people of Scotland to decide. Specifically due to the significant change of leaving the EU.
I personally would not support independence for Scotland as I do not think there is enough reason for it.
Just some below:
Moving away from a very corrupt Westminster to a corrupt Holyrood reminds me of the film the Patriot when Benjamin Martin says
“why should I trade 1 tyrant 3000 miles away for 3000 tyrants 1 mile away”Trade barriers. Scotland in 2020 exported 62% of its goods/services to the rest of the UK and received 67% of its imports from the rest of the UK.
I do not believe it would be a good idea to set up trade tariffs with our biggest trading partner. It certainly would work out better for them than us!Setting up all the government functions we would need to run would take a long time and it would be a difficult journey. Not impossible, but certainly very costly for Scotland.
Below, I will copy a document I authored on the 13th February 2019.
FAQs & Statement
1. Scotland voted to remain inside the EU. Therefore, we should.
It was a UK wide vote. The EU recognises the UK as a member of the EU. Scotland (even from the EUs point of view) can not simply remain.
2. Scotland isn’t listened to or recognised as equals within the union.
Scotland is listened to and each person in Scotland has the same say as anyone else in the UK.
Each person within the UK who is eligible to vote gets the same equal amount of the vote. Why should one person’s vote in Scotland (Or anywhere else in the UK for that matter) represent more than one in England, Northern Ireland or Wales? It shouldn’t! That would be unfair to individuals. Only 67.2% of voters in Scotland voted on Brexit. This gave Scotland a 7.98% of the vote. If all eligible voters had come out to vote, this would have gone up to 11.88% of the vote.
If all the votes cast in Scotland (All 2,679,513) had voted to remain part of the EU, the overall UK result would have been: Leave 48.85%, Remain 51.15% and Brexit would not be happening. Would this have been Scotland dictating to England who voted to Leave? No. It’s a UK vote. (This exercise proves that the Scotland vote counts!)
3. But Scotland needs to be listened to as a nation. Even in a UK wide vote.
Why do you feel it is justified to split the vote into UK nations? If this is okay, should we split it down even further into cities? Greater London voted overwhelmingly in favour to remain. Should they now get an independence vote from England? What about splitting down into streets? In this instance it is the whole of our United Kingdom that is affected in the same way. Even as part of the EU, if decisions are made, it affects the whole of the EU. You will have a say but will not be exempt or treated differently. This is what it means to be part of a union.
A Union that Scotland voted for!
4. The vote for Scotland to stay in the UK was rigged and the people were lied to.
There is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that the vote was rigged in any way. I think most people in Scotland accept this. If there is shock or surprise at the current people in government lying to the Scottish people to get what they want, we have a bigger problem. People are not stupid, and we should all know to take what the current government elite say with a pinch (Or bottle) of salt.
5. It was the fault of “non Scots” resident in Scotland, that pushed the Scotland independence vote to remain part of the UK. Real Scots wanted independence.
I have heard this several times now and have been unable to locate the source. (Any help is appreciated) I would be very interested to find out how the source got that information for a fact, as votes are anonymous. It also seems to me that to bring this up is at odds with the notion of wanting to be members of an all-inclusive EU. People who live, work and pay taxes in Scotland surely have a right (Under UK and EU legislation) to vote on matters that affect them. Plenty of Scot’s who live in the rest of the UK and in the wider EU can also have the same rights and privileges on voting. Surely there is nothing wrong with that. The EU also still want to give prisoners the same right to vote. By bringing this up, you are pretty much saying, those foreigners who we like, want and need have forced us into this position that we never wanted.
6. What does Scotland get out of remaining in the UK?
The list is long, but I will touch on just a few main points. The pound sterling, with a higher currency value than both the Euro and the US dollar. A strong military. To break up the British Army could be devastating to the whole of the UK in terms of security. Remembering that our London based Intelligence service is ranked 2nd in the world. In 2017/18 Scotland accounted for 9.3% of public spending and only 8% of revenues. This would leave and estimated 9.5BN gap in current public funding.
We have achieved a lot as the UK, many Athletes, Service personnel and others have held the union flag aloft with pride since 1801.
(From the SNP in 2019)
Independence
To be in the driving seat of our own destiny and to shape our own future is a natural desire. It is what we all hope for ourselves and it is what the SNP believes is right for Scotland. We will achieve independence only when a majority of our fellow citizens are persuaded that it offers the best future for our country. Our success will depend on the strength of our arguments and the clarity of our vision. Sign up and help us to persuade a majority of the Scottish people that independence is the best future for our country.
(SNP from 2023)
Why we need a referendum on Scotland's future
Westminster isn’t working for Scotland. We’ve been ignored too often. It’s time for a fresh start – to choose a different and better path. As an independent country, Scotland’s future will be in Scotland’s hands. Together, we can make Scotland the country we all know it can be. Sign below to pledge your support.
(Back to me from 2019)
If we are members of the EU, we are not in the driving seat. To persuade people is not to evidence and let people make up their own mind on the advantages and dis-advantages, but to only put across propaganda and leave people in the dark about the possible dis-advantages. On “The clarity of our vision”. I see nothing on a plan for an independent Scotland. One main issue is no figures on how they will fund any of the aims. The only mention of funding I have been able to find is the use of “a progressive tax system”.
1. The Lisbon treaty for the future vision of the EU is a very worrying read. Less openness, less democracy and confusing. Here is a link from 2008 published by the Independent: https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/the-lisbon-treaty-for-dummies-26447679.html
It will give a lot more powers to the EU and specifically leans away from the needs of smaller countries. This is a more up to date link that I feel is a fair un-biased reflection.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lisbon-treaty.asp
You can find all the full information here. I have only read a small amount and a number of summary documents.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A12007L%2FTXT
My opinion is that the EU is not a United States of Europe, and that it should be an organisation of European states united. Below are two speeches from Germans in the EU who can also see what is clearly happening.
https://www.facebook.com/100009762165737/videos/733671860301546/?t=17 Dr Alice Weidel
https://www.facebook.com/amorphamedia/videos/524551098021286/?t=1 Dr Alexander Gauland
We need to go back to basics and look at how other countries (Including ourselves in the past) have been successful. https://www.facebook.com/danielhannan/videos/2177538838936649/?t=60
Unfortunately, but maybe not surprisingly, none of these links above work now. Any assistance in getting the videos from the Links would be appreciated.
2. What is the point of regaining sovereign power in order to hand it back to the EU? The parliament in Brussels can/could be just as bad or even worse than the one in London.
3. The SNP welcoming refugees from Syria (no mention of any other nation). So, this is a tough subject. Anyone with any sense of decency would love to help everyone. From Libya, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda….. Unfortunately, the list goes on. However, integration of other cultures on mass is not going well for any part of Europe. ( Update 27/09/2023 Now this is Ukraine, but it shows the narrative doesn’t change)
With an aging population, an NHS in crisis and Ex-service men and others living on the streets, we need to make some hard decisions to look after ourselves first. The fact that we are borrowing money year on year then giving billions to places like India in foreign aid while they operate their own space programme in my opinion is ridiculous.
https://www.snp.org/policy-area/europe-international-affairs/
4. Is an independent Scotland going to be able to join the EU? If the SNP plan is to rely on Europe for Independence, I would suggest they need to think again. The stance from the EU is at present that they would have to consider an application from an Independent Scotland to become a member, and that it is not a given that Scotland will be automatically accepted. The Spanish would most likely use the veto they currently have due to the SNPs outspoken stance on Catalonia’s independence.
5. Do we want the cost of EU membership? As an independent Scotland or as the UK.
Membership of the EU cost the UK £13Bn a year. We only get £4Bn in payments back (That we have to apply for and that the EU insists we place a plaque on anything we use the money for to say it was purchased by the EU). A bit odd as the money has come from the UK in the first place. This equates to a £9Bn loss per year, and for what? Even if the government decided to pay all tariffs due to the EU per year on trade, estimated to be approximately £5Bn. The UK would still be £4Bn a year better off!
https://fullfact.org/europe/our-eu-membership-fee-55-million/
A bit about me
First and foremost, I am in favour of democracy. This being a democratic majority and the will of the majority of people. This is sometimes a hard line to take as we strive to have the best of all views, and you can never please everyone. But at the end of the day, I think we all want the same things, peace, prosperity and security.
My motivation for being a candidate for The Veterans' and People's Party was and is now as an independent my young daughter. I, being a veteran myself and having served in both Iraq and Afghanistan have seen some sights. I care deeply about the UK, I have life experience and care about the future. My focus and dedication are that Truth should be at the heart of any political organisation.
To finish off. I once said, “Scotland would have ruled the world if it hadn’t been so involved in fighting amongst themselves”. Scotland is better together with the rest of the UK and outside of the EU. This document is biased towards that view and I would encourage anyone to seek out alternative views and challenge with reasonable and factual evidence, anything I have said. After all, this is what politics should be all about!
Please feel free to take a look at The Veterans' and People's Party website below.
Mark Tunnicliff
13.02.2019
The Veterans' and People's Party candidate for Linlithgow and East Falkirk in 2019 and an independent for the GE constituency of Falkirk in 2024