{"id":2420,"date":"2019-02-28T12:09:08","date_gmt":"2019-02-28T12:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/?p=2420"},"modified":"2019-02-28T12:09:10","modified_gmt":"2019-02-28T12:09:10","slug":"are-we-seeing-the-end-of-britain-as-we-know-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/?p=2420","title":{"rendered":"Are we seeing the end of Britain as we know it?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Over the years, there have been a number of things which have\nsymbolised Britain\u2019s self-perception. Things like the famous capacity to pull\ntogether when things get rough, the muddle through compromises, the willingness\nto put the country first. Yet all of these are falling apart in the pursuit of\nvictory in the Tory civil war over Europe. A civil war which is now engulfing\nthe entire English political system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the utter contempt with which most people now view their\nsupposed \u201crepresentatives\u201c in the Commons. Far from \u201ctaking back control\u201d of\ntheir laws the MPs seem hell bent on refusing to accept control because of the\nresponsibility that goes with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Conservative and Labour Parties seem to be riven from\ntop to bottom over Europe and neither has anything remotely resembling\nleadership, nor indeed, the willingness to be lead. Quite how the Tories are\nnot 20-25 points behind in the polls is something which only Jezza the\nabstainer can explain. The normal laws of politics have been suspended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Labour MPs, far from contemplating ministerial posts. are reported\nto be plotting how to set up a new party so frustrated are they with the\nabsence of leadership on Brexit and anti-Semitism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tories should be hiding behind the sofa at the thought of\nfacing the electorate so divided are they. Yet even with May\u2019s promise not to\nlead them into another election, they are projected to have an outside chance\nof winning back the majority lost in 2017. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lib-Dems are perfectly happy with remaining as a minority\nopposition party, they tasted power and responsibility and decided have that\nit\u2019s not something they want to try again. Rather like a dish which looked good\non the menu but found that it was just too spicy and hot for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there is to be an early Election (which I doubt) the\nelectorate could be faced with multiple choices on both the left and right with\nnew parties trying to break through the barrier of first past the post\nelections. It\u2019s tough but it just might be that the old parties are unable to\ntake internal strains and face collapse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The risks are even higher for the britnat parties here in\nScotland. None of them have the capacity to be independent parties relying on\ntheir Head Offices for money, people, systems and direction. Would the break-up\nof their UK parties be reflected here or would we perhaps see the new\nstructures which would emerge being based on constitutional divides?
\nWould we see the britnats combine into one anti SNP party to reflect what we\nsaw in 2014 and 2017? Would the SNP become the natural home of those who\nsupport or at least are willing to talk about Independence but have remained\nloyal to parties which have not returned that loyalty? Both Labour and the\nLiberals were Home Rule Parties but have sold out in pursuit of office?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

England appears to have a level of intolerance of other views\nwhich makes it very difficult to see what would be in a manifesto for Labour or\nTory which would offer a platform around which either\nParty or Country could unify and bury the deep divisions unleashed by Brexit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the system breaks down we have unprecedented challenges\nand opportunities ahead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was therefor delighted to see Angus Robertson set up his\nProgress Scotland organisation. Somehow or other we need to help at least 15%\nof our friends, neighbours and workmates to change their views and join us in\nseeing Independence as the positive way to build a better future for all in\nScotland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We will only get them to come over when we show that we can\nlisten to their concerns, fears and doubts. The first step in this is to\nactually ask them where we failed in 2014 to make a good enough case. Only by\nlistening and then working out a new platform which is fact and evidence based\ncan we hope to make them look at our case afresh. We know that we failed on currency\nand pensions big style, but what do we need to do to convince the persuadable  NO voters?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently went back to an opinion poll conducted by the\nAshcroft organisation just after people had voted on 23 June 2016. Each and\nevery serious party had split with no less than 36% of the SNP vote going to\nLeave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fall-out from Brexit will have a major impact on the indy\nref campaign and among the questions therefor has to be just how do we; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. bring\nthe 36% back into the fold when we have being part of the EU as such a central\nplank and how many of the 36% are more committed to being out of the EU than to\nIndependence<\/li>
  2. convince\nthe Remain voters in the Britnat parties that only Independence offers the\nbenefits of EU membership<\/li>
  3. deal\nwith the fall out of the back stop in terms of hard borders?<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Only the NO voters know the answers and the sooner we start\nasking them and showing that we are listening to them the sooner we have a real\nchance of persuading them that we can be trusted with their futures. It\u2019s taken\narguably far too long for us to start asking he questions but Progress offers\nus the chance to make up some lost ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Over the years, there have been a number of things which have symbolised Britain\u2019s self-perception. Things like the famous capacity to pull together when things get rough, the muddle through compromises, the willingness to put the country first. Yet all of these are falling apart in the pursuit of victory in the Tory civil war over Europe. A civil war which is now engulfing the entire English political system. With the utter contempt with which most people now view their supposed \u201crepresentatives\u201c in the Commons. Far from \u201ctaking back control\u201d of their laws the MPs seem hell bent on refusing to accept control because ofRead More →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[132],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2420"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2420"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2422,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2420\/revisions\/2422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scotsindependent.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}