The National Party of Scotland: The Flagship for the Dream of Independence
The SNP, led by Nicola Sturgeon, is the major party governing the Scottish Parliament. The party has been dreaming of Scottish independence for almost a decade now; a dream that failed in 2014 with the negative vote of the Scottish people. The outcome of the 2014 independence referendum, with 55% voting against independence, only resulted in marginalizing the idea of independence. But the situation has changed in favour of the SNP in recent years with Brexit.
The party, which lost about 20 seats in the Scottish Parliament in the 2017 elections, has returned to popularity, and Brexit, with all its unfortunate consequences for Scotland, has changed the situation in favour of the ideas and strategies of the Scottish National Party. Now the SNP is waiting for the May 2021 local parliamentary elections. This will determine whether the SNP will be strong enough to implement the idea of independence with the support of the popular vote.
London and Edinburgh: The Dispute over Independence and Unity
The first independence referendum was held in Scotland in 1979, and the second in 2014 which failed with 55% voting against it. The implementation of Brexit and the UK withdrawal from the EU was a turning point for Scottish nationalists and separatists. The majority of the Scottish people seem to agree with the idea of independence. According to statistics, 56% are in favour of independence from Britain, and this figure has even reached 58% in other statistics.
The statistics represent a great leap forward in the popularity of independence, nationalism and separatism. These significant statistics are a good thing for the SNP. After Brexit, Sturgeon made it clear that Scotland was now closer to independence than ever before. She asked for another referendum on Scotland’s independence from Britain. But London seems reluctant to authorise it.
Boris Johnson and Theresa May both expressed their opposition to the idea. May argued that now is not the time for independence. With Boris Johnson in office, the same position was taken once again by London. Johnson insists that each generation can hold an independence referendum only once, a move contrary to Edinburgh’s political customs. But Sturgeon seems more determined to achieve this goal than meets the eye.
May Elections and the Fate of Independence
Two important facts are now unfolding in the current course of Scottish domestic policies. The first is that, according to statistics, the success rate for the SNP in the May 2021elections is almost clear and certain. The second is that the main goal of the SNP right now is to achieve independence. However, there are critics who oppose the idea.
They believe that the main policy of the local government should focus on controlling the pandemic and its impact on the economy and public health. They believe that, under such circumstances, addressing Scottish independence is nothing but an insult to the people. But, despite all the criticism, a large percentage of Scots believe that Sturgeon’s performance in controlling Covid-19 has been acceptable if not better than Boris Johnson’s. The important point is that the SNP strategy is Scottish independence, but not at any cost.
Despite all the public support, Sturgeon and the SNP prefer to proceed with the independence issue legally and diplomatically. For this reason, Sturgeon is postponing all related plans until after the May 2021 elections. It can even be said that her biggest motivation for participating in the May 2021 elections is to implement the idea of Scottish independence. “We have seen across the Atlantic what has happened to anti-democratic governments,” she said in a recent speech to the Scottish National Party Assembly, “they are destroyed.”
Dignity and Authority to Act: The Lost Ring of Scotland
Scotland’s main concern, meanwhile, has been London’s unilateralism in enforcing Brexit. Sturgeon believes that just as London left the EU without considering Edinburgh, Edinburgh can change the equation without considering London. According to Sturgeon, SNP’s main strategy in the May 2021 elections is to give the Scottish people the right to determine their own destiny. The SNP is instilling the notion that the country and its people have been humiliated throughout Brexit and that the only way left is to protect the interests of the Scottish people by deciding to rejoin the EU. Scottish nationalists tend to go beyond economic and political interests to decide their future as an independent state. Independence and the right to choose is something that can only be achieved through secession from the UK. The Scottish Government has even gone a step further and prepared the legal ground for an independence referendum.
Conclusion
Despite pressure from London, as well as pressure from Scottish opposition parties, Sturgeon and the SNP appear to be seeking public support for the idea of independence and a referendum. The fact is that Sturgeon needs two important backups in the midst of oppositions to the idea. The first is public support for Scottish independence and the second is the political weight of the Scottish Parliament. However, on paper at least, it seems that the SNP can win an even greater parliamentary majority than the previous term. But even if the SNP fails to win a majority in Parliament, the support of parties such as the Green Party for Scottish independence could shift the balance in favour of the SNP and the Sturgeon government. In any case, we have to wait and see what actions this party will take in the days leading up to the elections to implement its strategies and goals, and how much these actions will affect the elections.
