The enormous importance of seeing Scotland as others see us

Nina Jetter and Andrea Pisauro are ­outstanding advocates. Now, I know that not all of you are ­enthusiastic about EU re-entry. ­However, Scots voted ­emphatically against Brexit. And their wishes are ignored as the UK heads remorselessly for the hardest Brexit ­possible. Why? Because it can, owing to the UK’s primitive constitution.

Europe for Scotland is a star-studded group who may vary on many things, but they all agree on this: “We want the people of Scotland to know that Europeans everywhere would ­welcome them back in the EU if this is still their democratic wish”.

EFS insists that “the EU and its member states should make a unilateral and open ­offer of membership: an exceptional proposal to match Scotland’s exceptional circumstances”.

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Here are just a few among the galaxy of EFS supporters: actors Brian Cox and Sam ­Heughan, academics Anthony Barnett, co-founder of Open democracy and David Marquand; plus, authors AL Kennedy and Val McDermid.

It is significant that many of the EFS ­backers come from outwith Scotland. They are ­motivated by a range of factors; chief among these is respect for democracy. They see abuse and are not silent.

Others hope that an independent Scotland in re-joining the EU will have a galvanising effect on public opinion on England that may prompt voters south of the border to reject the evils of Brexit.

Some EFS supporters, like Jetter and ­Pisauro, simply love Scotland. And they made this ­devastating comment during the show: “Scots ought to be proud of their country and not settle for second best.” They see a lack of confidence in Scots and feel we ought to be more assertive in declaring distinct Scottish values and aims.

In part, this reticence may be down to the largely toxic Scottish media (with the ­notable ­exception of The National and the ­Sunday ­National). Led by BBC Scotland News (BSN), faults are magnified, while virtues are ­diminished or ignored. It may also help explain the appalling treatment of author Billy Kay for speaking Scots in Parliament.

Worse, moral equivalence is drawn between mistakes made in Scotland and the gross abuse of democracy that takes place daily at ­Westminster. This is akin to equating potholes with mass murder.

Witness last week, where we have seen the takeover of the Electoral Commission by the UK Government. Let’s be very clear about what this means. The Electoral Commission was the independent body responsible for the ­integrity of elections and referendums including ­spending and the legitimacy of results. It will now report to Michael Gove. He will decide if the rules have been broken and what penalties, if any, ought to be imposed.

From now on, the Electoral Commission will have to respect “the priorities of the UK ­Government in matters of elections and ­referendums”. Do take note of the specific ­reference to “referendums”. It almost appears that their polling shows the Yes vote would ­likely succeed next time, so they plan to “fix” the vote in advance.

Here, it is helpful to recall the words of ­Joseph Stalin who said: “It’s not who votes that counts. It’s who counts the votes”.

Democracy in the UK is now officially dead.

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You might expect this outrageous ­constitutional violence to be headline news on BBC Scotland News. Not a bit of it, instead the outlet remains obsessed over ferries. Sadly, for them, this pandering has done them little good as the UK Government intends to abolish the licence fee. The responsible minister, Nadine Dorries, regards the licence fee as “outdated”. She also believes the BBC “has a problem with impartiality”. (Here many in Scotland might agree). It’s a shame, for many BBC offerings are laudable; but they have allowed the brand to be incurably damaged by the antics of BSN.

While democracy was dying, what were Tory MPs doing? Not much, really. Aside that is from watching porn in the House of Commons. According to ministers this behaviour is entirely excusable because “MPs have a ­stressful job”.

Returning to sanity and Europe for Scotland, it is interesting that Jetter and Pisauro take a rather similar view to comedian Steve Coogan, who said recently: “Scotland seems to make England look insular and inward looking. In some ways, I feel like the rap on the knuckles of Scotland leaving would be well deserved.”

Euan MacLeod is Wednesday’s guest on the TNT show. Join us at 7pm to celebrate our 100th show