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posted by martyb on Saturday June 25 2016, @12:29PM   Printer-friendly
from the separate-so-as-to-stay-in? dept.

Scottish nationals have two supra-national citizenships. One is UK citizenship, the second is EU citizenship. In democratic referenda over the past two years, Scots have voted clearly to retain both citizenships.

Unfortunately it is not possible to respect both democratic decisions of the Scottish people, due to a vote by other nationalities. So where you have democratic decisions which cannot both be implemented, which does democracy demand should take precedence?

It is not a simple question. The vote to retain EU citizenship was more recent and carried a much larger majority than the earlier vote. In addition it was made crystal clear during the campaign that it may require the overturning of the earlier vote. So on these grounds I believe the most recent vote must, as an exercise in democracy, have precedence.

In these circumstances the announcement by the First Minister that she is initiating the procedure on a new referendum for Scottish independence from the UK, in order to retain Scottish membership of the EU, is a sensible step.

Source: Craig Murray

Craig Murray is an author, broadcaster and human rights activist. He was British Ambassador to Uzbekistan from August 2002 to October 2004 and Rector of the University of Dundee from 2007 to 2010.


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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday June 26 2016, @12:29AM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday June 26 2016, @12:29AM (#365839) Journal

    While what you are saying looks correct, you are ignoring that the cause isn't really government, but gradually increasing automation.

    Automation hasn't worked that way before and still doesn't work that way in the developing world. Sure, plenty of jobs are destroyed. But in a healthy economy that doesn't punish its employers, jobs are also created.

    And it's happening all over the world. This is a part of why Trump has been so successful as a popular candidate.

    There's always some cute rationalization for the ugly. The problem isn't that the jobs went away due to automation. The problem is that the people in power, as far as they have clue, don't care. Successful populists know what buttons to push.