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THERE should not be a second independence referendum even if the Supreme Court deems it legal, Liz Truss has said.

(58 Posts)
Granny23 Tue 04-Oct-22 09:46:01

Her reasoning is the old chestnut that the 2014 referendum was deemed to be 'once in a generation'. Again we have to reiterate that this was a throwaway remark from Alex Salmond during the campaign rather than anything legally binding or recorded in the official documents. For me it was a 'first in a lifetime' opportunity to record my view.

In NI the position is that a vote on remaining in /leaving the UK can happen after 7 years. It has been 8 years since the Scottish vote.

Katie59 Thu 06-Oct-22 14:54:41

The Brexit campaign was about having your cake and eat it, we didn’t get it and as yet havn’t found an alternative. If Scotland does join the EEA they will be as independant as the EU allows, good luck with that.

volver Thu 06-Oct-22 14:35:40

Urmstongran

I suppose by that analogy the Brexit cost £2 per head!

Well, the referendum did....
Brexit itself now.... ?

Urmstongran Thu 06-Oct-22 14:34:57

I suppose by that analogy the Brexit cost £2 per head!

volver Thu 06-Oct-22 14:34:14

Urmstongran

My view of Brexit differs from yours volver. I think it’s not about the UK being insular but trading more independently, say with Australia and Canada. i.e. ‘partake in the wider world’ most definitely.

On this issue we shall just have to agree to disagree.

And independence isn't about trade.

But yes, we will never agree.

volver Thu 06-Oct-22 14:33:22

Ooohhh - just thought - isn't that about half the per capita annual cost of a Royal Family?

Urmstongran Thu 06-Oct-22 14:33:07

My view of Brexit differs from yours volver. I think it’s not about the UK being insular but trading more independently, say with Australia and Canada. i.e. ‘partake in the wider world’ most definitely.

On this issue we shall just have to agree to disagree.

volver Thu 06-Oct-22 14:31:26

Them?

Independance?

OK.

BTW Urmstongran that's £3 each. How much has this latest government debacle cost us?

Urmstongran Thu 06-Oct-22 14:28:54

So if the Scottish government foot the bill of c.£15million that sum is paid for by the (only) 5 million or so residents? That’s a lot of money per capita - especially as it might get repeated.

I still say ‘have it, canvass for it vigorously and then accept the result’.

Katie59 Thu 06-Oct-22 14:28:28

I would vote for Scottish Independance as long as it is total independance with a customs border. Many compare them with Norway which has a pretty good economy in The EEA, best of luck to the Scots if they think they can emulate it.

volver Thu 06-Oct-22 14:28:16

so I get where you’re coming from and why you feel so passionate about it.

No you don't. Not at all. Brexit was about withdrawing from the world and trying to say we're different to everyone else and we don't need anybody else. Independence is about being able to partake in the wider world and not hold ourselves up as something unique. To think otherwise is very misguided indeed.

Petera Thu 06-Oct-22 14:22:59

Urmstongran

I felt the same about sovereignty when I voted Leave regarding Brexit volver so I get where you’re coming from and why you feel so passionate about it.

I return though to my question: who will fund this referendum? And maybe another one, down the line?

Actually for some of us it's not about sovereignty; we’re not nationalists, we’re social democrats who have come to the conclusion that independence is the only way to achieve that.

J52 Thu 06-Oct-22 14:19:19

I believe the Scottish Government foot the bill, the last one cost around 13 mil.
The EU referendum cost around £129 mil, paid presumably by the UK government.

Urmstongran Thu 06-Oct-22 13:58:52

I felt the same about sovereignty when I voted Leave regarding Brexit volver so I get where you’re coming from and why you feel so passionate about it.

I return though to my question: who will fund this referendum? And maybe another one, down the line?

volver Thu 06-Oct-22 13:43:07

As long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours, that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.

That's always relevant.

Urmstongran Thu 06-Oct-22 13:40:54

Who pays for these referendums?

volver Thu 06-Oct-22 13:38:28

There is a political party in Scotland, one of whose major policies is that there will be an opportunity to vote for independence. People keep voting for that party to be the lead party in the Scottish Parliament. Along with other independence supporting parties, they get a consistent majority in Parliament.

So anybody who says that they think there shouldn't be any more referendums is not ignoring what that party or its leader say, they are ignoring the voters of Scotland. Now I'm not naive enough to think that everybody votes SNP because they are desperately wanting a referendum. But nobody votes SNP without knowing that their main aim is independence.

Any talk of "you can't have a referendum 'cause you've already had one" is just wiped out by the fact that we vote for another one. Nobody gets to say but the people of Scotland, and we say we're having another one.

It may well be that under the current constitutional set up, the Court rule that there are no legal grounds for a referendum. Where does that leave us? A country where people want to decide on whether to leave a Union but they are not allowed to? What kind of set up is that?

Urmstongran Thu 06-Oct-22 13:38:01

Do you think the judges will take into account this Declaration signed in 1320? I suppose they must. It’s 700 years ago. Is it relevant now?

Philippa111 Thu 06-Oct-22 13:25:15

And so it continues.. Here is the history.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Arbroath

Urmstongran Thu 06-Oct-22 13:20:32

Why?
I think it festers continuously if it’s always getting brought up. Will we never be free of ruminating over it unless the nationalists get the result they yearn for?

I think it’s more ‘tiresome’ not being decided.
Okay - maybe not ‘once and for all’ as situations change - but at least for a very decent length of time volver.

volver Thu 06-Oct-22 13:08:12

No need for a mandatory vote. The turnout last time was a record breaking 86%.

Can we just drop the "once in a generation thing? It's so tiresome...

Urmstongran Thu 06-Oct-22 13:02:05

Totally agree Dickens.
Cameron virtually promised at the time what wasn’t his to give (continued EU membership) and I think that encouraged many Scots to go for independence. If they want it (and vote for it) they should of course have it. However I don’t agree with repeat referendums on the issue. Make the case for it, bang the drum, get voters animated and enthusiastic, then abide by the result as a one-off in a generation.

Would a mandatory vote for all citizens work do you think? So many young in the UK couldn’t be bothered to vote over Brexit then bleated afterwards when they didn’t like the result. Maybe they assumed it was a foregone conclusion.

It really is no good citizens whinging afterwards and in my opinion the SNP needs to make this next referendum watertight. Maybe they already have robust plans in place, I don’t know enough about what they propose.

Dickens Thu 06-Oct-22 11:48:11

Liz Truss says there should not be a second referendum and won't countenance one on her watch.

If the Supreme Court deems it legal, then there's not a lot she can do about it.

But what tactic(s) will she use to try to prevent it?

Scotland was taken out of the EU against their collective will, I think that alters the dynamics somewhat...

Petera Thu 06-Oct-22 11:41:39

Petera

Septimia

Since there are so many English people living north of the Border and so many Scots living south of it (let alone those either side with Scots or English ancestry, or family living the other side), perhaps we should all, whether we live in England or Scotland, have the opportunity to vote in such a referendum. After all, the result will affect all of us.

I don't remember anyone suggesting that residents in Lithuania should have been able to vote in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Sorry Volver you got there first and I didn't read the whole thread...

Petera Thu 06-Oct-22 11:40:59

Septimia

Since there are so many English people living north of the Border and so many Scots living south of it (let alone those either side with Scots or English ancestry, or family living the other side), perhaps we should all, whether we live in England or Scotland, have the opportunity to vote in such a referendum. After all, the result will affect all of us.

I don't remember anyone suggesting that residents in Lithuania should have been able to vote in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

volver Thu 06-Oct-22 11:26:50

I'm sorry you find the independence issue hurtful Septimia.

However Scotland is not here to make you feel wanted. I enjoy visiting the North of England, Newcastle in particular. My husband was born in England.

Being pro independence is not anti anything. Its pro-Scotland. There are some numpties on the side of independence who give the rest of us a bad name, same as there are Unionists who think that everyone in Scotland is a separatist who hates England, and that they deserve online hate and worse.

When you come to Scotland don't treat us like North Britain and don't think we are all shortbread and pipers; I'm not saying you do that, but too many do and they get disappointed when they realise we're not Brigadoon, we're a proper modern country. So come and say Hiya and pay attention to how most people will treat you and ignore the numpties.