After Labour lost 7 MPs and the Conservative Party 3, it is clear that Brexit has left British politics in complete disarray. With political parties at breaking point, the will of the Scottish people seems a mere afterthought. Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain a member of the European Union. Despite this, our representatives are either given little time to discuss matters relating to Scotland, or they are simply ignored.
The threat of losing some of the powers of our Scottish Parliament still stands. Last Summer, thousands gathered to protest this across the country. Throughout the Brexit process, we have yet to see any plan that has set Scotland specific proposals. The original withdrawal agreement failed to mention Scotland once. Since voting to remain in the EU, the Scottish Parliament (including cross-party agreement excluding the Tories) have voted to remain in the Single Market and Customs Union. This was also ignored by the UK government.
We are certainly not alone in being shut out of the entire process. It was clear at the beginning that Brexit has always been about trying to resolve factions within the Tory party, which have since become even worse. In the meantime, the UK government is ignoring the looming economic disaster, thousands of possible job losses, decrease in standard of living and hundreds of thousands of EU nationals living in Scotland.
With days left until the Brexit deadline, at the time of writing, we will be leaving the EU through a deal agreed by Theresa May, which has been heavily compromised, or will we drop off a cliff edge into the unknown economic territory of a No Deal. The reality for Scotland is dire. We are being dragged out of the EU against our will by a party we have ultimately rejected for the past 50 years.
Scotland is running out of options and it’s likely that the next major issue for Scotland will be a referendum on which union Scottish people would prefer to be part of: the UK or the EU. Considering the UK government’s apparent indifference towards Scotland, perhaps it is time to reconsider our 2014 decision on independence. It’s important to recognise how Scottish people are being treated in this so-called ‘partnership of equals’.
