1. SOLIDARITY WITH A GLOBAL A-TEAM. The threats facing us are global. The EU leads progressive global action to solve shared challenges. An independent Scotland in the EU would be far stronger than post-Brexit UK scrambling for bilateral agreements.
2. EQUALITY WITH ALL EU STATES Brexit has left the UK more isolated than ever. An independent Scotland would be equal in the EU & seek to be a progressive voice & role model within the EU and internationally promoting greater consensus, equality, and respect.
3. RESTORATION OF FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT
By re-joining the EU, Scots would be able to travel, live, work, and study in any other EU/EEA country, without visa red tape or bureaucracy, and Scots businesses could hire the overseas talent they need.
4. BRING DOWN BARRIERS
Scottish voters rejected Brexit but the UK Government has pursued an economically damaging Brexit which will reduce the UK’s GDP by 4% - twice the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Only Scotland rejoining the EU can undo this harm.
5. TRADE
The Free Trade Agreements proposed by the UK Government will not come close to making up for the loss of EU trade post-Brexit. By re-joining the Single Market and Customs Union, Scotland would re-open its economy and exporters to EU-states.
6. TAKE PART IN SETTING STANDARDS
Common EU standards allow people & businesses to shop freely in all EU Member States without bureaucracy, tariffs or border checks unlike the Tories’ Brexit trade barriers. An independent Scotland wd uphold these EU standards
7. ENERGY Renewables can tackle the global climate crisis and help Europe move from dependency on Russian oil & gas. Scottish renewables can help Europe pivot away from Kremlin-controlled energy sources & bolster the EU’s climate & geo-strategic security.
8. SCIENCE & RESEARCH
For centuries Scotland has punched above its weight in producing world-class research & innovation. As part of the EU with funding programmes such as Horizon Scotland can do even more to bolster European research & solve global issues.
9. INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Scotland takes a different approach to the UK when it comes to helping the world’s poorest & most vulnerable. Scotland wd benefit from working with European partners in dealing with climate change, post-COVID recovery & poverty.
10. WORKERS RIGHTS The EU aims to achieve a level playing field by prioritising social rights for workers & people in general. By joining a bloc that safeguards fundamental rights, an independent Scotland would ensure the wellbeing of worker at home & abroad.
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🧵 Defeat & the current state of denial in the SNP has been a long time in the making. Many of the problems that led to the SNP defeat at the general election were readily identifiable years ago. 1/4
In 2020, the membership elected a slate of candidates to the NEC including myself dedicated to addressing those problems & reforming the party. Our efforts to do so were deliberately thwarted by Nicola Sturgeon, Peter Murrell & their acolytes. 2/4
They co-opted their unelected supporters onto the NEC, bullied & smeared the representatives elected by the membership, ignored legal advice & made reform impossible. They also gerrymandered the parties rule book to keep Sturgeon critics, out of Holyrood. 3/4
🧵 The difficulty with all of this which otherwise seem very reasonable, is that it ignores the particularly heated nature of the debate around gender identity theory in which one side of the debate is often very keen to completely silence the other 1/10
The English law commission concluded that were stirring up, offences to be extended to cover gender identity without an explicit freedom of expression clause, there was a very real risk of the law being misapplied. 2/10
They recommended a defence similarly to s.29J of the Public Order Act 1986 shown below. As yet the law has not been changed in England. Those claiming the law in England is the same are wrong. 3/10
🧵 My @scotnational column on why I’m introducing a private member’s bill to give the Scottish Parliament the power to reform the role of the Lord Advocate by dividing into two separate jobs 1/5. thenational.scot/politics/24029…
One as head of Scotland’s prosecution service the other as a minister of the Scottish Govt & its chief legal adviser. The present Lord Advocate performs both roles & legal scholars & politicians are concerned this may give rise to a conflict of interest. 2/5
No criticism of the current or previous Lord Advocate or of the SNP govt should be implied because the dual role of the Lord Advocate is a historical anachronism which predates devolution. The dual role was rubber-stamped by the devolution settlement. 3/5
🧵Today’s @ScotNational splashes on the issues I have raised about the impact of the Tories #Rwanda bill on the supervisory jurisdiction of the Scottish courts which is both a devolved matter & protected by the Act of Union 1/5
Full story here. At my suggestion @scotgov lawyers are now looking at this. A written question from @JNHanvey has clarified what was obvious to me that there was no consultation with the @scotgov. 2/5 thenational.scot/news/24019239.…
Several organisations are already considering a constitutional challenge to the bill, and it’s my opinion that would best be started in the Scottish courts, like my successful challenge to the unlawful prorogation of parliament. 3/5
🧵For all those claiming the court’s decision to uphold the block on the #GRRA is an attack on #equality let’s just remind ourselves of the sort of safeguards to the bill that were voted down in the Scottish Parliament. 1/4
1. An amendment to prevent known sex offenders from obtaining a gender recognition certificate (GRC). 2. An amendment to prevent those awaiting trial on sex offences from applying for a GRC (which would have protected rape victims from the humiliation 2/4
of having to use female pronouns to refer to their attacker in court). 3. amendments to protect vulnerable women in prison. 4. amendments to ensure those receiving intimate care could elect to receive it only from members of their same sex. 3/4
🧵@ScotNational piece includes my take on #RutherglenHamiltonWest . “This result should be a major wake up call to those who didn’t listen to Kate Forbes’s advice that “continuity won’t cut it”. 1/7 thenational.scot/news/23840154.…
And to those who have devoted their time and energies to pushing anyone who disagrees with them out of our party. Unless we change direction, this result could be repeated across Scotland. 2/7
The low turnout & the massive swing to Labour reflect a disaffection from our former supporters with a series of policy missteps, a lack of vision & a failure to move the cause of independence forward. 3/7