YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE SOLIDARITY WITH THOSE ON THE EUROPEAN CONTINENT

03 - 03 - 2022 / Your Story

YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE SOLIDARITY WITH THOSE ON THE EUROPEAN CONTINENT

My views on independence haven't changed, I can only say that the case for independence is strengthened by the way that Scotland's promise of voting 'no' to retain EU membership has been conveniently forgotten.

I am from England and I have lived in Edinburgh since my undergraduate studies which began in 2013 but I feel lucky to call Scotland home.

I did not vote in the EU referendum as my postal ballot paper was not sent to my Norwegian address when I was living in Oslo for that year. Obviously, this has been a constant frustration for me since the result came through.

What frustrates me even more perhaps than not being able to vote in 2016 is we are constantly plied with the same messages of Federalism and Home Rule whilst nothing actually comes of it and at the same time, we have politicians telling us that by being independent we're not showing any solidarity with working citizens in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

They do not understand that young people such as me have as much solidarity with people on the European continent, in the rest of Ireland and, frankly, all around the world.

Nations, states, they are all interconnected

The point about independence is that it allows the people of Scotland from of all ages and backgrounds to have a serious conversation about finally owning their political institutions and having full responsibility for them.

The way that Westminster is structured, the constitutional mess down there completely prevents any meaningful reform. We have so-called socialists sitting in an unelected second chamber, liberals who are totally illiberal around matters such as nuclear weapons and illegal wars, and conservatives who seem unaware of the fact that winning 30% of a constituency vote does not make you a winner - it makes you an antidemocrat.

No one country is an island. That’s me said my piece. I hope that helps.

James from Edinburgh

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