A Guest Post by Gayle Miller.

Referring to voters or the electorate as “undecided” or by other terms creates a subconscious “them” and “us” division instead of uniting everyone and focusing on the issues that Scots all share to some extent or another with regards to their country, Scotland.

Furthermore, using the terms Westminster, UK Government, parliamentary sovereignty, power etc rather than the correct terms, Parliament of Great Britain, English Government, English (parliamentary) sovereignty, authority, English political parties, reserved, etc. is a consequence of Scotland having had a false narrative given to them for 300 years. The last 200 years having had the English continuator state narrative forced on it on a daily basis. This narrative, which was summed up by Crawford and Boyle and promoted by the English government and its establishment claims that Scotland was extinguished and subsumed into a greater England albeit under the new name of UK. I think it is fair to say most Scots would disagree strongly with that assertion. The late esteemed regius professor emeritus of law, David Walker, certainly did. An essay from the law journal can be found here: https://www.lawscot.org.uk/…/the-union-and-the-law…/

Additionally, in the references from I B Campbell you will find a quote from ex English PM, John Major: “This White Paper is about the Union with Scotland. That Union is almost 300 years old. As I have said before, no nation could be held irrevocably in a Union against its will … The Act of Union in 1707 was a remarkable political development. The union it enshrined is an enduring achievement which is to the credit of our people.” And further, “And if the Union is to flourish in the future a more concerted recognition of Scotland’s status as a nation will be necessary. It should be a mark of Scotland’s self-confidence in her own status as a nation that she shares her sovereignty with the other parts of the United Kingdom. But the willingness to share that sovereignty must never be taken for granted.” This is important because the Parliament of Holyrood had not been created and as he and other English PMs stated the only thing Scotland needed to reassert its statehood was to elect a pro-indy Scottish government. No referendum, no asking the English government. Simply an assertion of Scots sovereignty. The reference then highlights this by stating “In my submission the United Kingdom Government was entirely correct in this assertion of Scotland’s status as a nation and in its recognition that Scotland was indeed a sovereign nation which was entitled in the exercise of its sovereign will to leave the Union.” One can then look at the speech by Welsh representative Carwyn Jones regarding sovereignty.

Now in the references there are basic mistakes. Major calling it a political union when what was ratified in 1707 was an international trade agreement between 2 sovereign states. For this reason both countries retained their authority and were legally equal partners with equal authority to the state of GB. There is no written constitution of GB or indeed GB government in the terms and conditions of the treaty nor frankly anything that would have made it a political union rather than a trade agreement because the true nature of the treaty was one of trade. Why make this long point? Because the framing of Scotland’s independence and its statehood is from an English establishment perspective where they claim that Scotland was extinguished and subsumed into a greater England under the name of UK. The fight Scotland has is between Scotland and the English government and its establishment. Not Wales and Northern Ireland. Using the term Westminster not only includes Wales and Northern Ireland but perversely SCOTLAND as well. It is therefore important to reframe that narrative and bring it back to the true nature of the union treaty.

For too long the Scots have been made to believe that referring to England and the English government and its establishment is somehow xenophobic. This is a common trait shared with many of the nations that reclaimed their statehood from GB. It may on the surface seem inconsequential but the mind is the greatest battlefield and one where Scots will be taking their wounded from for many years after the reassertion of Scotland’s statehood.

Carwyn Jones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNawcGqBWc4

Christine Graham: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ychGT4dslrU

Gayle Miller