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QUICKFIRE EPISODE 2: DEVOLUTION, INDEPENDENCE AND THE DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT

Continuing bitesize digging into the Scottish Government's pro-independence papers currently being published by instalment
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The Scottish Government has began publishing periodically a new series of pro-independence papers on the ScotGov website. It aims to outline the need for Scottish independence, and makes a number of claims which require a detailed and forensic scrutiny. My Quickfire series will aim to examine these documents, with reference to verifiable facts with full receipts provided for each episode.

Examining the Scottish Government’s “Renewing Democracy through Independence”, July 14th publication.

Episode two unpacks the Scottish National Party’s false claims concerning the “unlimited sovereignty” of Westminster and ferrets into why Nicola Sturgeon is rewriting the history of her party’s attitude toward devolution

  • Is the UK a unitary state?

  • Does Westminster actually have “unlimited sovereignty”?

  • Why does the Scottish National Party insist devolution can’t renew Scotland’s democracy?

  • What did the SNP actually think of devolution?

Catch-up: click the link below to find previous episodes of the quickfire series

QUICKFIRE EPISODE 1: UNPACKING INDEPENDENCE FROM PRO-EU RHETORIC


Source materials referenced:

  1. Stone urges SNP to respect the Claim of Right and 'get on with the day job': https://www.johnogroat-journal.co.uk/news/stone-urges-snp-to-respect-the-claim-of-right-and-get-on-with-the-day-job-190403/

  2. The United Kingdom as a Union State, Iain Mclean & Alistair McMillan: https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/0199258201.001.0001/acprof-9780199258208-chapter-1

  3. Scotland and Brexit: the state of the Union and the union state, Christopher McCorkindale, University of Strathclyde: https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/58337/1/McCorkindale_KLJ2016_Scotland_and_Brexit_the_state_of_the_Union.pdf

  4. School lessons featuring SNP logo and independence campaign ‘politically biased’: https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/education/1941916/school-lessons-featuring-snp-logo-and-independence-campaign-politically-biased/

  5. Renewing Democracy through Independence, ScotGov publication: https://www.gov.scot/publications/renewing-democracy-through-independence/pages/3/

  6. It's easy to imagine a Scottish democratic renewal without independence, James Mitchell: https://www.holyrood.com/comment/view,its-easy-to-imagine-a-scottish-democratic

  7. Scottish Government Yearbooks (Edinburgh University): http://www.scottishgovernmentyearbooks.ed.ac.uk/

    SOURCE UPDATE [14/06/2023]: the yearbook source (1990) I cite has a better link here: http://www.scottishgovernmentyearbooks.ed.ac.uk/record/23056?highlight=*:*

  8. Factions, tendencies and consensus in the SNP in the 1980s, James Mitchell: http://www.scottishgovernmentyearbooks.ed.ac.uk/record/23056/1/1990_5_FactionstendenciesandconsensusintheSNP.pdf

  9. SNP told to 're-set' councils' relationship after £937m cuts revealed: https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19158278.snp-told-re-set-councils-relationship-937m-cuts-revealed/

  10. Police Scotland officer numbers hit 14-year low: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-61309744

    —Not explored in video due time constraints, additional supporting reference material—

  11. The Referendum Debate, the Democratic Deficit and the Governance of Scotland, Alan Page (Professor Law, Dundee University): https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/ws/files/11887736/OUP_Book_The_governance_of_Scotland_250915.pdf

  12. The United Kingdom between Unitary State and Union State: a geopolitical analysis', Matthew Graves: https://books.openedition.org/pufr/4051?lang=en

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Dean M Thomson
Quickfire
Digging into the Scottish Government's pro-independence arguments. Separating out the cheap rhetoric from verifiable facts.
Authors
Dean M Thomson