EDINBURGH — Scotland is a European nation. From our history as an independent country, when we traded widely with our neighbors and friends on the continental mainland, through to more modern times when we have continued those links and have welcomed many of our fellow EU citizens to our shores, the history of our nation and of Europe as a whole are tightly woven together.
In one sense, nothing can change that. Simple geography dictates that Scotland — and the rest of the United Kingdom — will remain, in the most real and obvious way, European. But Scotland’s distinctive relationship with Europe is under threat as never before.
The decision in June by voters across the U.K. as a whole to reject continued membership of the EU came as a profound shock to many in the country and abroad. Personally, I was deeply disappointed — and in Scotland, where voters chose to remain in Europe by a 24-point margin, the shock was especially sharp.
A simple glance at a map of the referendum results reveals in the starkest possible terms how Scotland stands out, underlining once again the growing divergence in political culture and priorities between our nation and the rest of the U.K. Every single one of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas voted to continue our more than 40-year membership of the European family.
That is not to say that everyone in Scotland believes the EU is perfect. It is not, and a significant number of people in Scotland voted to leave, a fact that should not be forgotten. And yet, the overall result was very clear. And that means that Scotland and the U.K. face some hard political realities.
The referendum result has been compounded by the increasingly strong message from the U.K. government that it is pursuing what has become known as a “hard Brexit,” the departure not only from the EU, but also from the single market. Prime Minister Theresa May has done nothing to quell this rising sentiment; indeed, she has added to it.
A future outside the single market would have a potentially devastating effect on Scotland and the rest of the U.K. Last week, a report for the Scottish parliament from the Fraser of Allander Institute, a respected economic research institute, warned that a “hard Brexit” could cost Scotland 80,000 jobs over 10 years.
What makes this all the more troubling is that the U.K. government has no mandate for a “hard Brexit.” The Conservative Party’s manifesto, on which May’s predecessor David Cameron was elected in 2015, gave full, unequivocal backing to continued membership in the single market — and May should now be held to that promise.
The right to travel in Europe is a benefit of the EU that has long been taken for granted; until recently, its disappearance would have been unthinkable.
The consequences of a “hard Brexit” are not only economic. U.K. citizens could be required to apply and pay for visas to enter the EU. The right to travel in Europe is a benefit of the EU that has long been taken for granted; until recently, its disappearance would have been unthinkable.
Meanwhile, the U.K. government’s stance on EU citizens resident in the country has been deplorable. The suggestion by some government ministers that these people should be used as bargaining “cards” in Brexit negotiations is appalling. And, sadly, as the Tories showed in their recent conference, it is entirely in keeping with the party’s distasteful lurch to the right. This position should be rethought immediately, and all EU citizens living in the UK should be assured that their residency is secure.
In the aftermath of the June referendum, I laid out five key interests that must be protected during the Brexit proceedings: our democratic interests, our economic interests, social protection, solidarity and our ability to influence and shape the rules of the single market.
As I will make clear at the annual conference of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in Glasgow this week, the SNP will muster all the political muscle we have — at Westminster and in Scotland — together with other like-minded voices from across the political spectrum in order to try to prevent the “hard Brexit” that the U.K. government now seems hell-bent on.
But we must also explore all avenues to secure our country’s European future, and that includes the option of independence if it becomes clear it is the best or only way of doing so. I said on the morning after the EU referendum that an independence referendum had become highly likely as a result — and that remains as true today as it was then.
In negotiating the tricky path that now lies ahead, my overriding responsibility, and that of the Scottish government, is protecting Scotland’s interests and our nation’s long relationship with Europe.
Nicola Sturgeon is first minister of Scotland and the leader of the Scottish National Party.