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Friday, January 1, 2021
“Leave the light on”
Scotland expects to join the EU soon
Britain finally left the EU at the end of the year. In the north of the country, however, the Scottish government is pushing for a new independence referendum and then rejoining the Union.
After final Brexit, hopes for an early return to the EU are rising in Scotland. “Scotland will soon return to Europe. Leave the lights on,” Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon wrote on Twitter overnight. In Edinburgh, a small group of activists demonstrated for independence on New Year’s Eve.
In the 2016 Brexit referendum, the majority of Scots were in favor of staying in the EU, but overall, the majority in Britain voted to leave, meaning that Scotland, as part of the Kingdom, also had to leave the EU. Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party (SNP) therefore contends that a new independence vote is now necessary after Brexit.
In a referendum on Scottish independence in 2014, 55 percent of Scots still voted to stay in the UK. The SNP now hopes to benefit from the frustration of many Scots over Brexit.
“With a broken heart”
The SNP is considered the favorite for the Scottish parliamentary elections in May. An electoral victory would increase the pressure on the British government to vote for a second independence vote in Scotland. So far, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resolutely rejected a second referendum.
According to a Savanta ComRes poll for The Scotsman newspaper in December, Scottish support for independence has risen to a record 58 percent. However, Nicola McEwen, Professor of Politics at the University of Edinburgh, said it was “very difficult to spot a trend” as approval ratings fluctuated.
In Edinburgh on New Year’s Eve, a small group of activists demonstrated against the definitive withdrawal of Great Britain from the EU internal market and the customs union. “Heartbroken but not bitter, for an independent Scotland in the European family,” read one of the posters.
