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.
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.