Meeting of the Parliament 18 September 2024
Even 10 years on, the yes campaign needs to reflect on the fact that the case that we need to make to persuade people in the future needs to improve, including on the economic answers. However, the no campaign should not avoid the fact that its argument was to stick with a status quo in which one in four children in Scotland lived in poverty, largely as a result of the policies of successive UK Governments—both Labour and Conservative.
On my point about asylum seekers, independence would give us the opportunity to treat asylum seekers with dignity and to recognise the huge privilege of being a country that can offer people safety and sanctuary.
In the UK, the richest 50 families own more wealth than half of the population—34 million people. An independent Scotland can fairly tax the unbelievable wealth that is hoarded by a tiny number of people, fund climate action, end child poverty and deliver good-quality public services. Independence offers us the opportunity to ask fundamental questions about our constitution. Do we want to continue with the unelected privilege of monarchy or become a modern democratic republic in which the people choose their national leaders?
The Scottish Greens believe that this is not as good as it gets for Scotland. We can be a fairer, greener nation, with the powers of a normal independent country. The challenge for our movement—the independence movement—is to sell the why of independence, not the how and the process.
The challenge for our opponents is a simpler one, which is to be honest about the fact that they are denying the people of Scotland their democratic wishes through successive elections—or to be clear about how they believe that we can collectively exercise our right to self-determination.
It is useful to look back, but, today, it is more important to look forward, and I look forward to the day that this country puts its future in its own hands, which the Scottish Parliament will vote for this afternoon.
I move amendment S6M-14524.3, to insert at end
“, for example, by establishing a constitutional convention to allow the people of Scotland to decide matters such as whether they wish to retain the monarchy or adopt an elected head of state, by becoming a voice for peace and rejecting nuclear weapons, by re-joining the EU, by treating asylum seekers with humanity, and by committing to fairly tax wealth and rejecting ‘trickle-down’ economics to invest in a rapid and just transition to net zero.”
Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.