This week – assuming the Prime Minister doesn’t pull another stunt – will see the final votes on Brexit. The Prime Minister seems to have failed to convince/bully/bribe (delete as appropriate) a sufficient number of MPs to back her deal. If she sticks to her promises (there’s always a first time) we could end up seeing a number of votes that could see a no-deal Brexit ruled out and potentially an extension to Article 50 – giving the Westminster Parliament more time to come up with a deal (or even scrap the whole stupid idea).
Of course, the EU would only sanction an extension if they felt there would be a significant change and something positive would happen other than the usual dithering and back-tracking we’ve seen from the Tory government ever since the EU referendum.
The Brexit zealots are getting agitated, shouting about respecting the will of the people – yet they’re too afraid to test the current will of the people with a second referendum. The people have spoken – or so the Brexiteers claim, as they look for other ways to protect themselves (and to hell with the rest of us). Yet we all know that the referendum was a fraud. The Brexiteers broke just about every electoral rule they could think of, including dodgy donations and busting campaign spending limits. But apparently anyone who complains is merely a sore loser!
And let’s not forget that the referendum was only an advisory referendum and the results did not have to be implemented. Yet the Tories went head first into Brexit without working out how it could be done and what the consequences would be. We’ve already seen companies closing down and moving the European headquarters out of the UK, ironically including EY (formerly Ernst & Young) who are the UK Government’s advisers on Brexit!
But it’s not just the rich Brexit backers and the Tories to blame for this. Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition – aka the Labour Party – have managed to let the Tories off the hook as they are too busy fighting with one another. Labour MPs spend most of their time sitting on their hands in Parliament, abstaining from one vote to another – including a recent SNP motion which would have stopped a no-deal Brexit.
Yet up pops shadow chancellor John McDonnell saying Labour will oppose a no deal Brexit – but somehow they couldn’t support it last week, simply because it came from the SNP. McDonnell really is turning out to be as useless as Corbyn. Any half-competent official opposition could have made mincemeat out of the current Tory government but Labour MPs prefer to turn their fire on themselves, resulting in the breakaway new Independent Group. The fact that half a dozen or so former Labour MPs could so easily merge with former Tory MPs highlights how ideologically close these two parties have become.
It’s clear that Scotland’s interests are not being served by the failed politics of the UK. Our future as part of a post-Brexit UK will be to provide our oil, gas and other resources to support a failing economy. Our resources will be drained as the UK tries to make deals with any nation that will speak to it. We know from the McCrone Report that a generation of Scots were cheated out of the oil wealth that could have propelled Scotland into an extremely rich nation.
Instead we got the Winter of Discontent followed by Thatcherism, Blairism and now Brexit. Scotland, and the people of Scotland deserve so much more. Don’t let our resources be squandered again, let’s use our assets to build a stronger yet fairer Scotland, one where people don’t have to rely on foodbanks to feed themselves and their families. Let’s launch the independence lifeboat and start rowing to safety now.
Cllr Kenny MacLaren
Paisley
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