Alba’s Neale Hanvey introduced a Bill to Westminster to transfer the right to call a referendum to Scotland.
Neale’s speech
What gives us hope is that the supporting MPs believe in Scottish Independence and are prepared to stand up for Scotland.
They back the argument rather than ‘their side’ and they are the pride of Scotland.
Here are some quotes from Neale’s speech.
The UK Government enthusiastically claim that they seek to preserve democracy the world over, yet they have moved to block Scotland’s consistently expressed democratic aspirations at each and every turn.
Democracy is not a single event, but an evolving and continuous process …
Can Government Members imagine the circumstances where, having entered the common market and ratified every subsequent treaty leading to the European Union, the EU Parliament moved to block or interfere with their Brexit vote.
Margaret Thatcher in her memoirs said of Scotland: “As a nation, they have an undoubted right to national self-determination”.
That begs the question: why would the UK Government deny democracy to Scotland but not to Northern Ireland? Could the clue lie in the words of former Prime Minister John Major from 1993’s Downing Street declaration that the UK has “no selfish strategic or economic interest in Northern Ireland”?
Alex Salmond
Alex Salmond welcomes the cross-party support for Neale’s bill.