Scotland’s future is ours alone to decide - Kate Campbell
Scotland’s right to self-determination should not be up for debate. Whatever your view on the constitution it shouldn’t be controversial to say that the question of a second independence referendum is one for the people of Scotland and the people of Scotland alone.
We are not a region, state or province, we are a nation and nations have the fundamental right to decide their own future.
On Tuesday, the Scottish Parliament voted overwhelmingly, 84 to 18, to endorse that basic principle. MSPs from the SNP, Scottish Greens and (a somewhat reluctant) Scottish Labour came together to affirm that right.
This is a welcome shift from Labour. Having now recognised Scotland’s right to decide, they must set out precisely how it can be exercised.
This follows Andy Burnham’s recent admission that, just as is the case with a border poll in Northern Ireland, a referendum on Scottish independence should be called when it is likely a majority would vote in favour.
Clearly no one has told him that there’s a small but consistent majority for independence, and that support for a referendum sits around 60 per cent.
Of course, he has scrambled to backtrack on his comments, but it’s just not credible. He knows, and his answer at PMQs shows that he knows, there must be a mechanism by which the people of Scotland can determine their own future. Burnham must set out a process by which a fresh vote can be held.
The Holyrood election in May resulted in the biggest majority of pro-independence MSPs in the history of the Scottish Parliament. The SNP won with a higher share of the vote than the current Labour government achieved back in 2024.
The UK that people voted to remain part of in 2014 no longer exists. The No campaign’s promises of continued EU membership, lower household bills, strengthened devolution and political stability have been broken – each and every one.
Not to mention the number of people eligible to vote now who couldn’t in 2014. By 2029, there will be over a million young Scots who have never had the chance to vote on the question of independence. That is a whole new generation and no less than a quarter of the electorate. They deserve to have their say.
Whether you’re for or against independence, a referendum gives people on both sides the chance to cast their vote. We are a proud, democratic nation. We should not fear honest, open debate about our future.
In the end, it’s your right to decide. Not Westminster’s.