This is either the dumbest, bravest or most annoying thing I have ever done, or possibly all three! I have petitioned the Scottish government, asking them not to have Indy Ref 2 until after 2020.
#FutureIndyRef
I am really concerned about the potential for division, bitterness and waste of time and money that a second Independence referendum will undoubtedly cause. It seems as though the Scottish government are now set on a course to set one up (whether this was the intention all along or has just happened because having marched their troops to the top of the hill they cannot lose face by marching them down – doesn’t really matter). Whatever your views of Scottish Independence (and, cards on the table, I am a Yes voter from the 2014 referendum who will vote no if there is one in 2018 because I don’t regard being tied to the EU as being independence), I hope that you can see that yet another referendum (the third in four years) for the sake of party politics is not a good idea. We need to wait until Brexit is done (given that we cannot avoid Scotland leaving the EU) .
I am also greatly concerned at the hatred and vehemence that will be stirred up – and if I doubted that would happen then the responses to my Independence Articles have confirmed that there is a great deal of poison and harm waiting to be unleashed.
I have done what I can but my hope is that there are many other people who think the same way. So whether you believe in the UK in the EU, UK out of the EU, Scotland out of the UK but in the EU, or Scotland out of both UK and EU, can I ask you to take a minute and click this link to sign the petition.
I have also set up a website to give more info. If you click Future Indy Ref you can get access to it.
www.FutureIndyRef.weebly.com
Can I encourage you to share this as widely as possible? I am not doing this on behalf of any organisation or group of people. I don’t have any money, or indeed time, to devote to a proper campaign, so the only way this will work is if ordinary people each do our wee bit and publicise, sign and encourage others to do the same.
Of course it might just end up being me and, not for the first time, I might end up with egg on my face! But I can only do what I believe to be right. I love Scotland and I really believe that we are sleepwalking our way to disaster if we go this route.
Even if you want Scotland out of the UK and in the EU, do you not think it would be wise to wait until after we see the terms of Brexit and what is involved?
If you are keen to see Scotland Independent I hope you realise that, as the polls indicate, we are likely to lose, and that will be the independence dream dead for decades!
If you are a Unionist and want a second Indy Ref precisely for that reason can I urge you, as I would also plead with the impatient nationalists, please don’t play politics with the people of Scotland. This is not a game, this is our lives. And the lives of our children.
The petition itself is quite simple:
Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government not to seek a second independence referendum until after 2020.
The closing date is the 6th of April. Lets make this the biggest petition the Scottish parliament have ever received.
If there is enough interest we will produce petition forms for people to download so that those without access to the internet can also sign).
Background:
The Scottish People took part in a long and valuable, passionate and at times divisive referendum in 2014 in order to determine whether Scotland should become independent of the United Kingdom. By a clear majority we voted to remain – 2,001,926 (55.3%) to 1,617,989 (44.7%) on a turnout of 85%. Since then we have had another referendum on whether the UK should remain within the EU which was also divisive within Scotland, with 1,661, 191 of the electorate in Scotland (62%) voting for the UK to remain and 1,018,332(38%) voting to leave on a turnout of 67.2%.
We were promised at the time of the first Independence referendum that this would be a ‘once in a generation/lifetime’ referendum and yet we are now faced with the real prospect of a repeat within four years. Whatever our views on Scottish Independence, (the petitioners represent a variety of views from those who wish Independence within or outwith the EU, to those who wish to remain within the UK) we believe that a referendum within the next four years would be harmful to the people of Scotland for the following reasons:
- We live in a time of great political upheaval and flux and believe that another referendum will only add to that.
- There are significant problems within Scotland (education, the NHS, the economy) that need the full attention of the Scottish parliament. We cannot afford to be distracted by another lengthy, divisive and bitter campaign.
- We were promised that this would be a once in a generation referendum and we simply ask that that promise is kept.
- Until the Brexit negotiations are complete there will be both uncertainty about what we might be leaving, and even more uncertainty about where we might be going. It is not wise to seek split apart the United Kingdom at the same time as the United Kingdom, including Scotland, is leaving the EU.
Sign the #FutureIndyRef Petition to the Scottish Parliament.
Will Sturgeon have to go if she forces one and then loses it?
One caution about petitions: all the signatories on the Coalition For Marriage were counted as one.
No = that is not how the Scottish Parliament petitions committee works. I think you are referring to a public consultation not the parliaments own petitions committee. Its not a popular vote. The petition is in my own name. If many people sign it that sends a very clear message.
I’ve signed your petition David. Thank you for all you are doing, although I do not agree with you that independence is desirable, I agree with your current argument about not holding another referendum.
David,
I have a difficulty with this.
As a full Scot, although domiciled south of the border, I have no objection to supporting a petition asking the Scottish Parliament not to hold a second referendum on independence. I agree that it would cause bitterness, division and be a waste of time and money, especially since the polls suggest that, at present, the answer would still be no.
However my reasons are not the same as yours.
I am strongly against Scottish independence for a variety of reasons, but the main one is the hugely negative effect that Scexit would have on the rest of the UK, and the huge attendant legal and commercial costs which the rest of us would have to fund through taxation. (As a retired doctor I would rather see the money spent on the NHS rather than wasted on funding a hugely complex process. Brexit is already likely to cost us at least £30billion, possible up to £60billion).
Given the current arrangements the Scottish Parliament already has huge autonomy, and I am struggling to see exactly what further benefits would be achieved by the destruction of the United Kingdom. I am not convinced that Scotland would benefit, and the rest of us would be severely “dis-benefited”.
So should I support your petition or not?
If you support the aims of the petition….then you sign it…whatever the reasons!
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
Signed!
Reblogged this on A Scot in the wilderness of Italy.
As a quisling i want a referendum ASAP
Purely to smash the SNP into the ground with their independence at anycost
I have put my life on hold since they started the campaign for indyref2 which was about 6 weeks after they lost
I refuse to invest anything into scotland when i have SNP members telling me once they get independence the state is going to seize all land and i maybe allowed to rent my house back from the government if i deemed suitable.
If it wasn’t for my wife wanting to stay near her family i would of made the SNP very happy and of emigrated.
To new Zealand as i dislike england
With respect, David. asking for it to be delayed until after 2020, laudable as that request is, isn’t the same as asking for the honouring of the promise of a once in a generation referendum, which you rightly refer to in your petition background. A generation is considerably more than 6 years by my calculation. I would urge that they drop the whole idea until at least 2040, because that is, effect, what they originally promised!
Its to enable as many people as possible to sign….2020 Brexit will be done and we will know the terms….it makes sense to not have any referendum until at least then…
Thanks for the comment, David. Actually, my sense is that more people would support a longer time frame. The current petition effectively gives permission for one after 2020 which is unacceptable given the SNP’s earlier promise.
I think you misunderstand the purpose and power of the petition….we are not effectively giving permission for anything. We are just asking the government to back off until after Brexit…
So wait until 2020
Give me a reason to invest in scotland until then.
I expect nothing but silence
Scotland is doomed while we have indyref 2 hanging over our heads
Business hate uncertainty and the SNP are delivering it by the lorry load
Unless of course the plan is to drive ALL business out of scotland and blame the english
just sign it thinfourth, It is with small steps that we will defeat the nationalist madness…
Signed but with following reservations …..
I question the 2020 date !
We were promised that this would be a once in a generation referendum and we simply ask that that promise is kept……so why 2020 (only 3 years away)
and also the point about Unionist voters wanting another referendum (because the polls show another loss for the Separatists) and not to play politics with the Scottish people!
The only people playing politics are Salmond, Sturgeon and the likes, they are driving the ‘next referendum’ no-one else.
i agree with those people above who question the date of the referendum, after all we were promised a ‘once in a generation referendum’ and this is proposed after only 3 years. I would prefer never to have another referendum because I do not support separation. If you decide to sign David’s petition, there is an opportunity to make individual comments so I would suggest that folk take advantage of that to let their thoughts be known. I believe the Scottish Parliament should represent us all, not only separatists.
Hi David,
I am delighted that you have had such a positive time in NI. I am generally a full supporter of your biblical stance on many / most of your postings. I just wish that other church leaders would take a similar robust line in stead of the wishy washy pap we generally get.
However we continue to disagree on your political views over Scexit.
I fully support those who have posted that they are concerned with your wish to have Indy2 in 2020 when the original vote was for a generation.
I also note that, despite posting on several occasions, you have never answered my concerns that Scexit would have a very negative effect on the rest of the UK in many ways, especially financial since we would have to fund most of it!
I would go further. Indy1 was a political tool designed by Cameron to protect his own interests and had little / nothing to do with what was right for the whole of the UK (as was the Brexit vote). But the fact remains that giving a vote to the future of the entire UK to 8% of the population with the remainder 92% effectively disenfranchised was anything but democratic! If just over 4% had voted leave, then the rest of us would have had to pick up the tab, social, political, financial etc.
I don’t expect you to post this, but the questions remain.
Regards
TomG
Not sure if you wanted me to post it or not…I don’t really want to get into whether Scotland should be Indy or not. I think there are good reasons and I no more think that England should have a vote on it, than Russia should have a vote on whether Estonia should! But as I said the purpose of the petition is not to get into this – in fact the purpose of the petition is to try and avoid having these endless arguments! And it is incredibly frustrating when people misrepresent the petition. It is NOT a petition to have an Indy Ref 2 in 2020 – it is a petition asking the Scottish government NOT to have an Indy Ref until at least then. It is designed broadly to enable as many people as possible to sign….I just find is so frustrating that people are so narrow and intent on their own particular political perspective that they can’t even co-operate on a broader perspective…the lack of political nous is depressing…!