THE Scottish Parliament can hold a referendum on “whatever it likes”, a previously secret UK Government email has revealed.
The National: Holyrood can hold referendum on ‘whatever it likes’, secret UK Government email says
The Scottish Parliament cannot be assumed to have the competence to hold a constitutional referendum unless and until that competence is asserted by the Scottish Parliament. Old emails won’t decide the matter and neither will any amount of opinion and advice from any number of experts. Power is not given. Power is only ever taken.
That the Scottish Parliament has the rightful authority to hold a constitutional referendum is beyond doubt. Holyrood’s democratic legitimacy is not in question. But there is a difference between having rightful authority and the exercise of that authority. What connects the two is power.
The people of Scotland are sovereign. We have the rightful authority to decide the constitutional status of our nation and to choose the form of government which we deem to most adequately accord with the needs, priorities and aspirations of Scotland’s people. We have the rightful authority. But we are unable to exercise that authority because the Union prevents us doing so. The Union denies our sovereignty. The Union presumes to supercede our rightful authority. The Union presumes to remove from the people of Scotland our status as the ultimate arbiters of legitimate political authority in Scotland and bestow that status instead on a parliament (in effect, the executive arm of government) in another country in which the people of Scotland have no more than token representation.
This situation will persist and worsen until the people of Scotland assert our rightful status. We will be subject to ever greater constraints on our democratic agency as the British ruling elite seeks to preserve the Union and thereby the integrity of the structures of power, privilege and patronage which constitute the British state. The Union must be dissolved if Scotland’s democracy and distinctive identity as a nation are to be saved.
The Scottish Government must assert the full and comprehensive competence of the Scottish Parliament on the basis of its democratic legitimacy and the sovereignty of Scotland’s people. That this will occasion confrontation with the British political elite cannot be permitted to deter or delay this essential action.
No more vacillation! No more procrastination! No more excuses! No more compromises which validate the very illegitimate power that must be rejected if Scotland’s independence is to be restored by a democratic process! It is time to rectify the ancient injustice of the Union. It is time to #DissolveTheUnion. It is time to restore Scotland’s independence. It is time!
Peter A Bell 
“The people of Scotland are sovereign. We have the rightful authority to decide the constitutional status of our nation” Yes we do but considering the split in the polling which sits at 50/50 would suggest that 50% are happy to serfdom to England and Westminster rule.
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That assumes actually doing something changes nothing. It assumes that taking substantive action has no effect. It assumes that the polls will be the same after the primacy of the Scottish Parliament is asserted as before.
If you’re a slave to the polls then you’ll never achieve anything. The whole point of campaigning is to make the polls wrong.
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Stuart Campbell observed on a number of occasions that there won’t be any substantive change in polling numbers until a referendum campaign actually starts. People are too busy putting food on the table to worry about what ifs and what might be. So waiting for the polls to show an unbeatable lead before starting the push for a referendum is self-defeating. Of course, the SNP know this.
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Yes the Scottish people are sovereign.
But the Scottish Government, endorsed by the Scottish Parliament representatives, do not have the will/courage/balls to enforce the democratic mandate presented to them by the people.
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“But there is a difference between having rightful authority and the exercise of that authority. What connects the two is power.”
What an outstandingly good statement which lays bare the impotence of the Scottish Government. They are simply unable to exercise that power, partly through a lack of desire and partly through a lack of ability. Even if you ignore the drive for independence that the Scottish Government has not taken up all the devolved powers available, speaks volumes on their ability to run a country. From The Times, https://archive.is/UEmdT
”’In February 2019 Shirley-Anne Somerville, as social security minister, said the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which oversees a system she had previously condemned for “causing so much pain”, would retain control of 11 powers for five years because its Scottish replacement was incomplete.
Too wee, too poor, too stupid, indeed.
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I’d be a bit wary about these reports of the Scottish Government failing to take on or use powers that are available to it. It’s rarely as straightforward as the media makes out. The real problem isn’t the powers that have been devolved but that so much has been reserved to the UK Government. Partial devolution of a system that has to be fully integrated and coherent in order to function is just about the worst idea ever. But had the SG refused the powers that were offered there would have been uproar. The British political elite has been weaponising devolution against the SG ever since the first referendum. They litter the road with fiscal and political traps.
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A very good point. Given the debacle and billions wasted with Universal Credit, social security is littered with issues. However given that running the infrastructure is going to be the first hurdle that any government must clear it does not inspire confidence. That “can-do” attitude needed to get the country up and running appears to be in short supply.
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Regards Social Security, most of that is still Reserved, and is going to stay that way.
The difficulties for Scotland’s plans being things like DWP intransigence over any additional top up payments in Scotland, being deemed as extra income, and so DWP take that off a claimant, making the whole idea utterly pointless as far as top up s go.
The other thing being those precious few controls Scotland does get, are mainly for Disability benefits, and tend be be more administrative than anything else.
It has been a pro Unionist myth,that Scotland has all these new Social Security powers, and isn’t using them. Or that we had the chance of taking control, but were unable, for this or that reason. And deliberately giving the impression of an incompetent planning regime.
These pro Unionist myths must be challenged.
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The SG does have the power, vested in it by the sovereign people of Scotland to do anything to further or protect the interests and wellbeing of the people of Scotland. Their own conclusion, when bleating about the treatment of Scotland by Westminster, is that Independence is the only answer. We all know this – next time instead of the usual pompous bleats (who am I referring to I wonder?) just stand up in the House of Commons and tell them that enough is enough, the treaty of union is declared dissolved, and lead the SNP and ALBA contingent out of Westminster.
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Reblogged this on Ramblings of a now 60+ Female.
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Absolutely right, Peter. In all truth ,our real problem resides in Bute House, not Downing Street.
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