Showing posts with label Scottish independence. Show all posts
Saturday 15 November 2014
Scottish nationalist 'kingmakers' eye post-2015 election deal with Labour
If Scottish nationalists win a 'kingmaker' position in Britain's May 2015 election, they would consider supporting a minority Labour government but would never get into bed with the Conservatives, their leader in the London parliament said.
Since Scots voted by 55-45 percent to preserve the United Kingdom in a Sept. 18 referendum, support for the Scottish National Party has surged on a perception that Britain's rulers are backsliding on pledges to grant more powers.
A poll by Ipsos-MORI last month showed the SNP, which won just six seats in the House of Commons in 2010, could win 54 of the 59 Scottish seats in 2015, potentially making it Britain's third largest party in terms of Westminster seats.
The once fringe party could find itself a possible 'kingmaker' after the May 7 general election with the fate of the world's sixth largest economy in its hands.
"I would relish the opportunity to be able to ensure that Scotland is not governed by Tories that we didn't elect. The SNP will never support a Tory government," Angus Robertson, the Westminster SNP leader told Reuters in an interview in Perth, 450 miles (725 km) north of London.
"We will not go into an arrangement with the Tories (Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives). That means that other constellations are possible."
He said the SNP would consider a deal with Labour and possibly even the Liberal Democrats.
The SNP's rise adds a further dose of volatility to the most uncertain general election in a generation as Britain's rulers attempt to tinker with their European Union membership and face a surge of voter disaffection with established parties.
Under scenarios currently being discussed, the SNP could enter a 'confidence and supply' deal giving a minority Labour government support on crucial votes in exchange for concessions.
So what is the pound of flesh?
"I have very high opinion of Reuters but you wouldn't expect me to rehearse our position now," Robertson, a 45-year-old former journalist, said with a smile.
After no single party won an overall majority in the 2010 election, Labour ministers dismissed a mooted alliance with Scottish nationalists. Cameron's Conservative Party formed a government with the Liberal Democrats.
At the very minimum, the SNP would hold the Westminster parties to their pre-referendum pledge to grant more powers to Scotland.
Britain's London-based politicians have bickered over the details, though party leaders insist they will grant the promised powers to Scots. Legislation granting the powers is due to be passed after the election.
'BREXIT, SCOXIT'
Scotland may seek another independence vote if Britain's rulers fail to honour their pledge to grant these further powers, outgoing Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond warned on Friday.
"I believe there will be another independence referendum when there is a demand for it," Robertson said. "It is the public that will make these decisions. The people will decide."
One route to Scottish independence may be via a possible 2017 referendum which Cameron has promised as a vote on European Union membership. A so called 'Brexit' referendum is dependent on Cameron forming a government in May.
Salmond's protege, incoming Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, has called for Scotland to have a veto over a future referendum on EU membership.
That creates the potential for a constitutional crisis that could crack apart the United Kingdom if Scotland voted to stay inside the EU but the rest of the United Kingdom voted to leave, Robertson said.
"It would force the biggest constitution crisis in living memory," he said. "I am not sure whether the upper echelons of the political parties in Westminster fully understand that yet. But they are treading on very dangerous ground."
REUTERS
Wednesday 24 September 2014
Scottish nationalist Sturgeon says to run for leadership of independence party
(Reuters) - Scottish nationalist Nicola Sturgeon said on Wednesday she would run for the leadership of the Scottish National Party (SNP), a job that would make her Scotland's most powerful politician.
After failing to secure Scotland's backing for independence in a referendum last week, current SNP leader Alex Salmond said he would step down as First Minister and party leader.
"I am announcing today my candidacy to be the next leader of the SNP and the next First Minister of Scotland," Sturgeon, the 44-year-old deputy leader, told reporters in Glasgow, Scotland's biggest city.
"Independence is the best future for Scotland. And I am more convinced than ever that we will one day become an independent country," she said. "But that will happen only when the people of Scotland choose that course in the polling booth."
Last Thursday, Scots voted by 55 to 45 percent to reject secession, prompting British Prime Minister David Cameron to declare that the question of Scottish independence had been settled "for a generation".
Sturgeon, a solicitor before entering politics, made clear that while the long-term goal was independence, she would focus on holding London politicians to their promise of more powers to Scotland while building what she said was a fairer society.
"The process of strengthening and empowering the Scottish Parliament must now get under way in earnest," said Sturgeon, who spoke from behind a podium at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall that bore the slogan "Moving Scotland Forward".
"The people of Scotland have made clear that the need for new powers is urgent and irresistible. But as First Minister, my responsibility will also be to use those powers we already have to make life better - now - for those we serve."
Sunday 21 September 2014
SCOTLAND'S LEADER: VOTERS 'TRICKED' IN REFERENDUM
(AP) — The debate over Scotland's future fizzled amid a bitter war of words Sunday, with the Scottish leader claiming his countrymen were "tricked" into rejecting independence in a referendum and Britain's three main political parties bickering over how to take political reform forward.
Alex Salmond, Scotland's outgoing independence leader, accused politicians in London of reneging on their promises to hand more power to Scots in a rare cross-party pact that he said played a crucial role in swinging the votes in favor of union in Thursday's vote.
His comments came after Prime Minister David Cameron stressed that plans to empower Scots should be linked to constitutional reform in England — a stance that fractured the fragile political consensus and drew attacks from across the spectrum.
Just days earlier, Cameron and his political rivals had joined together in a vow to quickly pass laws to transfer key decision-making powers from London to Scotland's capital, Edinburgh. All three party leaders signed off on the pledge, which promised Scots new powers to decide on their tax, budget and welfare policies.
Since then, Cameron said those changes must be made "in tandem" with reform in the House of Commons to bar Scottish lawmakers from having a say on bills that only apply to England and Wales — a longstanding grievance that has come to the fore amid the debate.
He also said it won't be fair to devolve powers to Scotland without considering similar changes in the rest of the kingdom — England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
"Millions of people in the rest of the U.K. have been listening to these debates, watching this campaign and rightly asking: 'What will change for us? Why can't we have the same powers and the same rights as those in Scotland?'" Cameron wrote in the Mail on Sunday newspaper.
Critics say that throwing all those questions into one basket dilutes the three leaders' joint pledge, and will inevitably delay the timetable of the promised return of powers to Scotland.
"It's the people who voted No because they believed these commitments from the Westminster leadership — these are the people who are feeling most angry, most hurt, most disappointed in Scotland today," Salmond told the BBC. The politician has said he will step down as Scotland's first minister in November, after the failure of his pro-independence campaign.
All three British parties insisted they would fulfill their vow, though they clearly differed on the English reform question.
Nick Clegg, Cameron's deputy and leader of the coalition's junior party, the Liberal Democrats, said the promise to Scots "cannot be made contingent on other constitutional reforms." The opposition Labour Party's leader Ed Miliband similarly said that there could be "no ifs, no buts" about delivering new powers to Scotland.
Vernon Bogdanor, a leading constitutional expert who used to teach Cameron at Oxford University, joined others in questioning the prime minister's ability to deliver reform on time. Cameron had set a rapid timetable, calling for legislation to be published by January and passed before he calls elections.
"Constitutional changes should not be made in a rush or for party advantage," said Bogdanor, now at King's College London. "To try and get this through by January or February is absurd."
"He (Cameron) is normally laid back, thoughtful and consensual. He made the concessions without consulting Parliament, and, it appears, without consulting the Cabinet. This appears rushed and panicky," he added.
Tuesday 16 September 2014
NEXT TITLE: ELIZABETH, QUEEN OF SCOTS?
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LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II can keep her magnificent Scottish castle at Balmoral should Scots vote for independence — and chances are she will be able to keep her role as well.
As Thursday's referendum nears, questions are being been raised about Scotland's future relationship with the monarchy if its people opt for independence. Although many details remain up in the air — Will the queen's title change? Will Scotland keep funding the monarchy? — it seems likely that the Scots will keep Elizabeth as their queen.
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QUEEN OF SCOTS?
Should the Yes campaign succeed, the signs are that the queen would remain the head of state of an independent Scotland — much in the same way she is the monarch of 15 countries from Jamaica to Canada to the Solomon Islands known as "Commonwealth Realms."
Elizabeth does not interfere in the governments of those countries but is regularly briefed on their affairs and plays an important ceremonial and symbolic role.
"She's queen of Australia, Canada — she could be Queen of Scots if the Scots wanted," said Vernon Bogdanor, a politics professor and constitutional expert at Oxford University.
"The Scots have said they will produce a written constitution, with the queen as head of state. These things work," he added.
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has been consistent in saying that he wanted to keep the queen — and her successors — in that role. This week he said he looked forward to her being "Queen of Scots," and said there is "substantial" goodwill in Scotland to support that prospect.
Polls have backed that view, though not everyone in the Yes camp agrees. Some politicians, including members of Salmond's Scottish National Party, have said they prefer to create a republic.
The constitutional details of how an independent Scotland can keep the monarchy — or in a less-likely scenario become a republic — are not yet clear.
Bogdanor said the British government would likely appoint a "governor general' to represent the queen in an independent Scotland, as has been done in Commonwealth countries. The person in that role would be appointed by the queen on the advice of the British prime minister, he said.
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SCOTTISH BLOOD
The queen has more Scottish blood than many other British monarchs — her mother came from an ancient aristocratic Scottish family. In addition, her affection for Scotland is well known.
Elizabeth traditionally spends three months each summer at Balmoral Castle, the private Scottish home for the royals since the 1850s. She also spends a week every year at Holyrood Palace, the monarch's official residence in Edinburgh.
"The queen most definitely has an affinity with Scotland. She has known it from a very early age and it's very much in her blood," said Joe Little, managing editor at Majesty magazine.
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WHAT DOES THE QUEEN THINK?
The queen is prohibited from taking sides in political debates and rarely makes her personal views public. Her official position, according to royal officials, is strictly impartial and "above politics."
Accordingly, she has stayed mum on Scotland — though she surprised many when she told well-wishers Sunday that Scots should think "very carefully about the future" before voting.
Those were her first — and only — comments on the issue.
The last time she spoke out in support of the U.K. was in 1977, when she used her Silver Jubilee speech to address calls for power to be devolved to Scotland and Wales. At the time, Elizabeth reminded audiences of the "benefits of union" for all U.K. residents.
Little, at Majesty magazine, believes the queen still holds that view.
"She would very much want the United Kingdom — her kingdom — to stay united," he said. "She's very much a traditionalist and would want things to remain as they are."
QUEEN TO SCOTS: THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT FUTURE
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Queen Elizabeth II has made her first comments about this week's Scottish independence vote, urging Scots to "think very carefully about the future."
But the popular monarch didn't indicate a preference on how Scots should vote, carefully maintaining the neutrality that is her constitutional obligation.
Still, some may interpret her comments as a suggestion that Scots looking to embrace independence should be cautious about severing Scotland's long ties to the United Kingdom, which date back more than 300 years.
The queen spoke after a Sunday church service near her Balmoral estate in Scotland. She made the comment to a well-wisher in the crowd.
Buckingham Palace recently issued a statement indicating her plan to remain neutral before Thursday's vote.
AP
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