THE eyes of the world are on Scotland today.
Media outlets from all over Europe, Australia, the US and more are watching and waiting to see what the people of this country will decide.
Will they vote to remain a part of Brexit Britain by electing Unionist parties in the majority, or will they vote to return a pro-independence majority and take a step towards rejoining the world stage as an independent nation?
Here are five reasons why we believe all Scots should vote for independence in today’s elections:
1: The Democratic Deficit
The people of Scotland haven’t voted for a Conservative government since the 1950s.
Regardless of what the public north of the Border think in this “Union of Equals”, the Tories have been in power for more than a decade.
Prior to that, Scotland was subjected to the devastating cuts of Margaret Thatcher’s era despite voting Labour in every election that “Iron Lady” stood in.
Polls suggest that this is not going to change anytime soon.
Boris Johnson’s Tories have a firm grasp on England, with polling suggesting that they are likely to further extend their 87-seat working majority in the House of Commons after a by-election in Hartlepool today.
That would be the first time that particular Westminster seat has turned blue since it was created in 1974.
READ MORE: Richard Murphy: Why I predict a profound crisis for the UK after these elections
Polling also predicts a further collapse of the Labour “red wall” across Northern England, with dozens of councillors being deposed in favour of Johnson’s Brexiteers.
With as strong a hold over England as Johnson has, he has no need for votes from Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland to remain in power over all four of those nations. That is a democratic deficit worth voting to escape from.
2: London’s Outdated Politics
The largest legislature in the world is the Chinese National People’s Congress. It has almost 3000 members.
The second largest is the House of Lords, which has almost 800. China has more than 1.3 billion people living within its borders. The UK does not have one-tenth of that.
Furthermore, there are 92 hereditary peers in the House of Lords. Those are men (not one is a woman) who have been given a seat in the chamber by luck of birth.
They may also receive a £305 per day attendance allowance, plus travel expenses and subsidised restaurant facilities.
What’s more, one of these men, James Bethell, is a minister for health in Boris Johnson’s government. An unelected aristocrat who used to manage a nightclub has been handed more power over the UK’s handling of the pandemic than any doctor or nurse in the NHS.
Bethell is one of 19 ministers in Johnson’s government who have not been elected but instead sit in the Lords.
David Frost (above), the former chief Brexit negotiator, is now a life peer who sits on the Cabinet. He has never won an election in his life.
A vote for independence is a vote to create a democratic system that is run for the people who voted, by the people who voted.
A vote for the Union is to remain lorded over by the unaccountable aristocracy.
3: Scotland’s Population Problems
Scotland, like many other countries in the rich Western world, is facing a population crisis.
The number of people in the country over pensionable age is already higher than those under aged 16, and the movement is only in one direction.vCurrent projections suggest that there will be a 50% increase in the over 60s and a 4% decrease in the under 16s by 2033.
This ageing population will put pressure on Scotland’s health and welfare infrastructure, as there will be more people reliant on these systems and fewer paying to support them.
READ MORE: Andy Wightman: We must make tourism kinder on Scotland's fragile communities
The more rural areas of Scotland’s Highlands and Islands are also facing a depopulation problem, with the lack of opportunities, affordable housing or other factors often causing people to move to more urban places.
While it is not a cure-all, control over Scotland’s own borders and immigration system, currently reserved to a Westminster government intent on curbing migration, could help to combat these problems.
Asylum seekers given new lives in Scots communities have already begun to reverse the trend, with a young Syrian learning Gaelic in the Outer Hebrides making waves across social media last week.
"I know English, Gaelic, Arabic, French...and a wee bit of Mandarin!"
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) May 3, 2021
10-year-old Abdullah and his family moved from Syria to Stornoway four years ago. In that time, he's learnt English and is now mastering Gaelic! pic.twitter.com/uYQ3PtZbZG
More people of working age would further reinvigorate Scotland’s economy. The Scottish Government understands this, outlining plans for a Scottish visa to boost immigration in the wake of Brexit. However, the Tories rejected those proposals without, it seems, even having read them.
4: Renewable Energy
As outlined in an excellent series of articles out to Open Minds on independence, Westminster has no apparent plans to change the management of oil and gas reserves in the North Sea.
With Scotland’s bountiful natural energy supplies, be that wind or water, we have the potential to be a world leader in renewables.
Exports of renewable electricity are already higher than they’ve ever been. Scotland exported £745 million worth of electricity in 2019 as wind power increasingly became what some experts called “the country’s second North Sea Oil”. More than 17,000-gigawatt hours were transmitted to England and Wales that year, the highest total ever recorded.
READ MORE: This is the key to powering an independent Scotland’s future
With Scotland’s huge potential in renewables, it is a shame that the Westminster government seems more interested in pursuing oil and nuclear options. In 2016, the Tory government voted to end grants for new onshore wind turbines, a move which resulted in a 57% fall in investment 2017.
Only by giving Scotland full control over the ability to shape the renewable sector will its full potential be realised, and that can only be achieved by voting for parties who aim to see Scotland independent.
5: Brexit
The elephant in just about every political room, Brexit has caused Scotland to reevaluate its place in the Union following the No vote in 2014’s independence referendum.
A massive 62% of Scots voted to remain a part of the European Union, but they were outnumbered by leave votes from England and Wales.
While this may seem part of the same democratic deficit as was mentioned earlier, and the two are certainly connected, this has far more wide reaching implications than the tenure of any one Westminster prime minister.
Scotland has been dragged out of the EU despite voting otherwise, with key Scots industries suffering hugely as a result.
READ MORE: Open Minds: Only independence can fix damage of Brexit
Boris Johnson promised there would be an El Dorado for the fishing industry post-Brexit, he promised young Scots would still be able to take part in the Erasmus programme, and he promised there would be no border in the Irish Sea. He lied.
There is no way back but independence. As Brexit Britain becomes more and more insular, even sending gun boats against some of our greatest allies, Scotland looks outward with a voice silenced. Foreign policy is reserved to the Tories in London.
The LibDems argue for slow persuasion and eventual change. While that may work in a century or two, Scotland already has the will and ambition, it just needs the powers of a normal independent nation to be able to speak for itself.
This brief list could not hope to cover the countless reasons why Scots should vote for independence today.
Why are you supporting independence today? Let us know in the comments below.
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