Jayne Dowle: Nicola Sturgeon's referendum call '“ Is this about Scottish pride or just personal ambition?

I HAPPEN to be a supporter of Nicola Sturgeon. I admire the way this feisty 46-year-old clawed her way up from a childhood in Irvine as the daughter of an electrician, through university and law school to become the first woman to hold the post of Scotland's First Minister.
Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon are engaged in a battle of wills over Scottish independence.Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon are engaged in a battle of wills over Scottish independence.
Theresa May and Nicola Sturgeon are engaged in a battle of wills over Scottish independence.

That said, this idea to hold a second referendum on Scottish independence is misguided. Ms Sturgeon argues that the Brexit vote has left Scotland at a new crossroads. A fresh referendum on independence is needed so the country can decide its own path to take.

However, those in favour of keeping the the United Kingdom together argue that another referendum will cause yet more division and uncertainty just when we need to garner every drop of collective strength.

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I recognise her impatience; her desire to be doing things is evident. Just watch her at an official event, a state occasion perhaps, where she is required to dress up and stand still. She looks as if she is itching for the whole thing to be over so she can go home and get on with her chores.

It’s not a bad quality in a political leader. Her commitment to action is a factor behind the favour she has gained amongst Scottish supporters eager to ditch politicians riding through life on a carpet of entitlement and disdain for ordinary people.

However, her hot-headed decision to ask these very same ordinary people to lay their country on the line in the name of her own political ambition risks being her very undoing. Clearly, it has been timed to take advantage of Westminster’s Brexit tortuous machinations.

Ms Sturgeon will regard this as a moment of political capital. Fair enough, but she would have done well to engage both sides of her brain. We like to see political leaders with passion. However, this should be countered with levity and an underlying concern for every individual in the UK.

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In this balancing act, a requisite for all good political leaders, Ms Sturgeon has failed. Why ask the Scottish people to decide on their own independence when the process by which the United Kingdom as a whole manages its independence from the wider European Union has not even begun?

She practiced as a solicitor before seeking political office. Surely her logical legal mind knows that in a difficult situation one tough decision should lead to the next in turn? There is nothing to be gained from bombarding those who must make these decisions with choices and conflicting information.

In addition, as an astute political operator, Ms Sturgeon cannot fail to have noticed that if referendums achieve one thing, it is to force a polarisation of opinion.

Here perhaps is her biggest personal gamble. If she takes her country to the poll, she does so on a scant guarantee
that they will vote the way she wants them to.

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Most crucially, she should not assume that a vote for Scotland’s independence will also be a mandate for full membership of the European Union, an option she would appear to favour.

A major ScotCen survey held this week suggests that although Scotland voted to remain in the EU by an overwhelming 62 to 28 per cent in last year’s referendum, support for full membership is now on the wane. More than two-thirds (67 per cent) of Scots either want to leave the EU (25 per cent) or for the EU’s powers to be reduced (42 per cent).

Even those who voted Remain last year now want the EU to cast less of a shadow over their lives. More than half (56 per cent) of Remain voters believe that Brussels should have fewer powers. Is this really what Ms Sturgeon wants for the country she is so committed to? Five million souls cut adrift entirely from the rest of the world? Is this what moderate Scots want?

Then again, let’s not forget that most political leaders are inescapably vain. It is morally wrong for Ms Sturgeon to sacrifice her country in the name of proving a point to Prime Minister Theresa May. I’m sure that the SNP 
leader could trot out any number of reasons why it makes sense for Scotland to be an independent country. However, it is immature to use these to back her rival in Westminster into a corner and make her look stupid. I had hoped that women could behave better, frankly.

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There are also far too many “what ifs” hanging over the prospect of a second referendum. What would the Scottish currency be? Would there be a guarded border with England? Would we English visitors require a passport to visit the Edinburgh Festival?

That’s why it is not enough to threaten Scots with this one question – independence or not – and hold them accountable for the outcome. It is easy to make grand suggestions, less so to deal effectively with everything that arises from them.

Instead of forging ahead regardless, I suggest that Ms Sturgeon looks again carefully at the reasons behind her own decision to hold a referendum before asking anyone else to decide what the result should be.