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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🧵 Very disappointed not to get called to speak in the #OnlineSafetyBill debate this evening particularly as unsubstantiated allegations of transphobia were being bandied about. Here’s what I was planning to say
There is much to welcome in the Bill particularly in relation to tackling Child Sexual and Emotional Abuse online. As a former Specialist Sex Crimes prosecutor I am all too aware of how children are targeted online.
Sadly there are those in our society, often hiding in plain sight, who seek to exploit children and so child safeguarding should be a number one priority for any government. In so far as this bill seeks to do that I applaud it.
🧵In the past week both Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie have displayed an extraordinary insouciance towards human rights and equality law by seeking to brand women who question legislative proposals based on gender identity theory heraldscotland.com/politics/20068…
as “transphobes”” & akin to “racists” and “anti-Semites”. Ms Slater wants us banned from the airwaves & Mr Harvie wants us disciplined by our political parties. They really need to acquaint themselves with Articles 9 & 10 ECHR which protect freedom of belief
& freedom of speech in this country. They could also do with reading & understanding the Equality Act & the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in case of Maya Forstater v CGD Europe which established that discrimination, harassment, and victimisation
🧵It’s a year today since I was sacked from the front bench of the SNP Westminster Group having been wrongly accused of “transphobia”. Despite a continued campaign of bullying & harassment on account of my feminist beliefs & my sexuality 1/4
I’m enjoying life as a backbencher and benefiting from having more time to devote to my constituency and my work as Deputy Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights. I’ve been fortified by the incredible level of support 2/4
I continue to receive from members of the public. But best of all the concerns of many women & lesbians which I have tried to articulate are now firmly in the public domain & have the support of @EHRC, the independent equalities & #humanrights regulator 3/4
🧵 My @ScotNational column on the co-operation agreement & how to make its worthy aspirations meaningful. Both parties have signed up to “doing politics better” “constructively & respectfully” & with “transparency & candour” 1/12 thenational.scot/politics/19541…
If we are to have respectful politics & transparent processes, then these values must apply across the board. There can be no areas carved out where anything goes & people can be abused and traduced for seeking honest debate and scrutiny of policy. 2/12
So far, in relation to the most totemic and controversial legislation in their policy programme , the approach of the partners to the co-operation agreement hasn’t lived up to the values they have now so clearly set out in writing. 3/12
The summary of the #Forstater judgment by discrimination law expert @akuareindorf should be essential reading on the importance of belief as a protected characteristic not just for employers but for service providers & membership organisations 1/
Such organisations should review their policies to avoid the potential sanctioning of discrimination, harassment or victimisation on the grounds of protected beliefs on sex & gender & avoid compelled speech. Also a reminder that #freedomofexpression 2/7
And the right to #FreedomOfSpeech includes ‘not only the inoffensive but the irritating, the contentious, the eccentric, the heretical, the unwelcome & the provocative provided it does not provoke violence’ 3/7