With the UK Election Day fast approaching, I have just caught the BBC News which has provided a quick overview of what all of the leaders are up to today. Delivering Key Messages, totting up hundreds of miles travelling and no doubt adding to climate change at the same time.
The piece on Nicola Sturgeon was a quick 30 second sound bite – which is all they (all politicians) want to deliver because it gets them on the telly and apparently it’s all we (the plebs) are capable of dealing with, small mouthfuls that are easy to swallow. Just like feeding a baby. Annoys the hell out of me. Sorry – I digress.
So Nicola’s sound bite was “lock out the Tories…”, “Johnson is the most dangerous Prime Minister…”, ” Tories are bad for Scotland…” and the final one which always annoys me – “Stop Scotland being dragged out of the EU against our will…”. Please note: usual caveats apply. These are not verbatim quotes but it is the gist of what Nicola said.
As I have stated before it is 100% accurate that 62% the voters in Scotland during the EU Independence Referendum voted to Remain within the EU. I am not contesting that at all. My problem is, as usual, with the accuracy and voracity of the sound bite.
This is the absolute unequivocal truth:
The Treaty of Rome (1957) which was signed by Edward Heath, the British Prime Minister, in Brussels on 22 January 1972, resulted in the European Communities Bill that was given Parliamentary Assent which meant that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland became a member of what was then the European Economic Community (EEC).
Whether Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP or the wider Scottish Independence movement like it or not – the treaty is with the UK as a whole. There is no Treaty between Scotland and the EU and there cannot be until the country is Independent. The problem is that as soon as Scotland becomes Independent, which was planned to be 19 months following the 2014 Referendum according to the SNP’s Road Plan (Independent Scotland’s Road Map 2014), Scotland will no longer be part of the UK and the Treaty of Rome will no longer apply to Scotland. This would not be a “soft exit” of Scotland either. It would be a “hard exit”.
Quite simply put:
Scottish Independence = Scotland Leaving the European Union
This is the truth but of course the SNP and Nicola Sturgeon will not tell you that.
Nothing to see here
Perhaps you should ask them why before casting your vote for them tomorrow.