ScotRef

Tories need to respect the referendum and Holyrood results

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Ruth Davidson and a lot of bull!

I see the Tories are in trouble for overspending to try and win elections in England – they should learn a lesson from the Scottish Tories – who don’t need to cheat so much, they just lose the election by a country mile (winning only 31 seats, less than half of the SNPs 63 seats) and then get their friends in the press to write it up as if they had won – much cheaper and less hassle.  

Ruth Davidson made it clear that her party were campaigning on a platform of No to independence and No to a second referendum. Her whole campaign was predicated on the notion that ONLY the Tories stood behind the Union and her vote did actually go up a few percent.  However her party polled only 22% of the vote – in other words she failed to convince 78% of Scots who voted to cast the one vote that would guarantee no second referendum. Ipso facto she has no mandate and is significantly overreaching in the extreme when she claims that the second referendum is dead and with a second Holyrood majority for independence the mandate is to hold a second referendum should the circumstances demand it.

“Respect the result of the referendum” the unionist parties and their allies in the press will scream at our re-elected First Minister but its a hollow soundbite, worse its insincere as from the moment David Cameron announced English Votes for English Laws having challenged Scotland to “lead the Union, not leave it” the unionists have been wildly disrespecting that result and disrespecting the promises made to get it. 

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Scottish Labour Deputy Leader got back in on the list after losing his Cowdenbeath constituency to the SNP’s Annabelle Ewing

Was it respecting the referendum result to promise to keep tax offices open and then announce their closure, to promise orders for the Clyde and then to cut them and delay the contracts?  Was it respecting the result to guarantee EU membership then to lead us into an referendum that’s now to too close to call, or to say that only the UK can support Aberdeen’s oil industry then to let that city down with a half hearted city deal in its moment of need?  Was it respecting the referendum result to say renewables require the UK for grants and then to cut those grants early, endangering Scotland’s renewable energy future, or to offer devo max / something close to home rule and then offer a Scotland Bill that misses even the watered down Smith Commission by a mile? 

Yes, the nation narrowly voted No in 2014 but the reason that the independence debate is still alive and the reason SNP support has soared is because of the disrespect shown by the Westminster parties, not just to the YES voters but to the No voters who were swayed by the now broken promises and fear mongering.

If anything Ruth Davidson’s nonsense claims on independence show that she is also disrespecting the result of last week’s election. Labour in Scotland on the other hand might just be about to wake up – happens when you get kicked that hard. They may be about to have a home rule epiphany Deputy leader Alex Rowley, Former Deputy Leader Anas Sawar and former First Minister Henry McLeish have all been pushing for Labour to become the champions of Home Rule.  I respect that and the Lib Dems would do well to consider that too but how many more powers can you give the the most powerful devolved parliament in the world – oh no wait was that just spin then?  Mr Rowley said “home rule”, with control of pensions, foreign affairs, defence and some taxes reserved but most other areas should come under Holyrood’s remit. Pensions (keeping our old folk safe), Foreign affairs (representing ourselves to the EU etc) and Defence (Opting out of illegal wars) and taxation based fiscal levers are the first powers not the last powers you need to control to create a fairer, safer, prosperous and successful nation.

You might also like 7 ways the Scottish election result is good for the independence movement

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About the author

Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp

Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp is the Founder and Chief Executive of Business for Scotland. Before becoming CEO of Business for Scotland Gordon ran a business strategy and social media, sales & marketing consultancy.

With a degree in business, marketing and economics, Gordon has worked as an economic development planning professional, and in marketing roles specialising in pricing modelling and promotional evaluation for global companies (including P&G).

Gordon benefits (not suffers) from dyslexia, and is a proponent of the emerging New Economics School. Gordon contributes articles to Business for Scotland, The National and Believe in Scotland.

6 Comments

  • Going by the attacks on Ruth and the conservatives by small business for SNP, you lot are worried, which is nice. We have passed peak nat and deep down you know it( but will never admit it)

    • Every one read Stewarts comment above you want a laugh – Stewart seems to be a member of the new cult of Ruth by the looks of things – thats me using his logic that if BfS sports independence we must under orders from the SNP. Also by his logic given the Tory party released a report that criticised BfS and myself directly and contained a known lie about us then does that mean they are worried about us – nice.

      Given that Davidson got a lower share of the vote than Thatcher in Scotland the question is was Thatcher peak Tory in Scotland?

    • I remember the same argument being used by Labour following the election of Jim Murphy. The only reason SNP supporters were mocking him was because they were frightened. And we know how that turned out.

  • Why doesn’t the great entrepreneurial mass if you organisation create a TV station with an affiliated newspaper completely independent of outside interests, run and managed buy a trust with a board made up of people like yourselves woman for independence, common weel etc funding for example could come from areas such as advertising revenues generated by EU and Scottish government funding and Companies like yourselves etc and utilising our own industries in advertising, media and television production, A national news programme with a world outlook informing with a distinctly Scottish perspective would almost certainly be watched by the majority. Giving for the first time a TV presence to the new alternative media. There are plenty of talented journalists I feel who would be capable and willing. Whilst the independence movement has no TV presence we will always struggle to reach the hearts and minds of the majority, most people use the Internet but TV is still the main source of news for most people. With other programming such as art and culture I’m pretty sure Scotland has enough talent in music comedy film and drama to fill the hours not only showcasing Scottish talent but also educating people that we do have an identity and culture of our own.
    Your name says it all you are Business for Scotland when we finally achieve our goal you will be the captains of industry the workers will be relying on to provide jobs and drive the country forward.
    Too finish up, the SE16 has seen a polarising of Scottish politics and a divergence of views of how Scotland gains its independence and also the direction there after and an ASTV would provide a voice for the independence movement in every home as well as a counter to the propaganda with which we are now faced with on a daily basis it would also create skilled jobs

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