Why the UK Supreme Court’s colonial ruling on Scottish independence cannot be allowed to be the last word

With the UK Supreme Court predictably ruling that the Scottish Government does not have the right to hold a second referendum on the question of Scottish independence without the sanction of the UK government at Westminster, it is more than worth reminding ourselves of the stakes involved not only for this generation but even more importantly for generations to come when it comes to ensuring that this colonial ruling is not the last word.

Nicola Sturgeon

It was already the case that the Scottish National Party’s Nicola Sturgeon was the only leader across Britain to emerge from the Brexit debacle with any credibility. During her initial public statement after the result of the EU referendum was confirmed on June 24, she extended the hand of friendship to EU migrants and immigrants living and working in Scotland, assuring them they were welcome and would remain so. It was a powerful statement of solidarity with people who’d found themselves reduced to the status of ‘the other’ during the course of a referendum campaign that plumbed new depths of indecency and mendacity. Because strip away the embroidery and Brexit was driven by a tidal wave of xenophobic and British/English nativist hysteria, whipped by the the right wing of the Tory Party and…