Scotland's choice
This election won't decide whether or not Scotland will be independent. But a vote for the SNP is a vote to reinforce the Scottish Parliament's right to decide when an independence referendum should happen. At the end of the Brexit process, when the final terms of the deal are known, it is right that Scotland should have a real choice about our future. Brexit must not simply be imposed on Scotland no matter how damaging it turns out to be. Last year's Holyrood election delivered the democratic mandate for an independence referendum in these circumstances. The recent vote of Scotland's national Parliament has underlined that mandate. If the SNP wins a majority of Scottish seats in this election, that would complete a triple lock, further reinforcing the democratic mandate which already exists. And, in such circumstances, any continued Tory attempts to block the people of Scotland having a choice on their future, when the options are clear, and on a timescale determined by the Scottish Parliament, would be democratically unsustainable.
Scotland's place in Europe
The SNP believes that if Scotland chooses to become independent, we should be a member state of the EU. Before asking people to vote in an independence referendum, we will set out the process by which our membership of the EU will be secured in the circumstances that prevail at that time – such as whether or not Scotland has already left the EU as part of the UK. We will continue, in all circumstances, to demand the scrapping or fundamental reform of the Common Fisheries Policy and support Scottish control of Scottish fisheries, as we have done for many years. We will also oppose any attempt by the UK government to treat the fishing industry as a bargaining chip. Having sold out fishing as ‘expendable' on the way in to the EU, a Tory government must not be allowed to betray it again on the way out. Given that an independence referendum would happen at the end of the Brexit process, this election also presents Scotland with a more immediate opportunity. In the months ahead, we must make sure that our interests are not ignored in the Brexit negotiations. A vote for the SNP will make sure that Scotland's voice is heard. A majority of people in Scotland voted to remain in the EU - but even many of those who voted to leave have real concerns about the extreme Brexit being pursued by the UK government.
To be taken out, not just of the EU, but also of the Single Market, poses a real and present danger to Scottish jobs - to our farmers and fisherman, our universities, our food and drink businesses and to almost every sector of our economy. Indeed, it has been estimated that leaving the Single Market could cost 80,000 jobs in Scotland. That is why the Scottish Government published compromise proposals that would keep Scotland in the Single Market, even as we left the EU. These proposals were rejected out of hand by the UK government. Despite promising to listen to the devolved administrations, and being prepared to countenance a special deal for the car industry, they refused to consider arrangements that would address the specific needs of Scotland. However, this election offers people the chance to give the Scottish Government's proposals real democratic legitimacy and make it impossible for the Prime Minister to continue to ignore Scotland's voice. If the SNP wins the election, it will give us a mandate to demand a place for Scotland at the Brexit negotiating table and the inclusion of the case for our place in the Single Market in the UK's negotiating remit.
