Why should Scotland get preferential treatment over the Single Market, compared with the rest of the UK?
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Kezia Dugdale, the liability leading Scottish Labour. No wonder he’s got that look on his face. [Image: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire/PA Images].
But this seems authentic. The EU referendum was UK-wide and, while the SNP may consider Scotland to be a separate nation, it isn’t. The decision affects it as much as Cumbria or Cornwall.
What’s really interesting is the thin-skinned response by Nicola Sturgeon to Mr Corbyn’s scathing remarks about the SNP.
“I know that many Scots believe that the best pathway to redress the current situation is via independence. Perhaps this isn’t surprising when problems of unemployment, industrial decline, and exploitation seem so persistent,” he said.
“Yet these are exactly the issues of the north of England, the Midlands and other English regions.” And he said supporting independence “ignores the reality” of political and business power being controlled by “the establishment” in both England and Scotland.
Ms Sturgeon’s reply ignored the substance of his argument and concentrated on an ad hominem attack that had nothing to do with the issue at hand:
Rubbish. And if Corbyn wasn't leading such a pitifully ineffective opposition, Tories wouldn't be getting away with half of what they are https://t.co/1bMOfonMKt
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) January 20, 2017
Oh, is that right? Or is it just an attempt at distraction from the issues of unemployment, industrial decline and exploitation? I think the latter.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has delivered a blow to Nicola Sturgeon’s plan to keep Scotland in the European single market when the rest of the UK leaves by saying that exiting the market must be “a UK-wide decision”.
Scotland’s first minister has threatened to hold another independence referendum should the UK government ignore her plea to find a way to retain Scotland’s membership of the European trading bloc.
However, at a Scottish Labour event in Glasgow on Friday morning, Corbyn said he will not support a special Scottish deal when it comes to single market membership and will instead argue for “market access” for the whole of the UK.
Source: Corbyn Says Scotland Will Leave The Single Market With The Rest Of The UK – BuzzFeed News
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Access to the single market is exactly what Scotland is asking for..what is the problem? After all Scotland joined England as an equal nation and we have not seen much of that .
If she put half as much effort into actually governing Scotland as she does into her pipe dream of independence Scotland would be a lot better off, she knows that Scotland as an independent nation would already be out of the eu and the single market but thinks she can fool her own nation into believing otherwise.
All Labour supporters should be supporting a remain campaign. Scotland showed the right thinking with respect to the referendum and Labour should be promoting the case for remaining in the EU even if this means splitting the UK.
“Corbyn is an ineffective leader” would be an ad hominem attack. “Corbyn is leading an ineffective opposition” describes a group dynamic, not the man himself.
I do apologise; you’re quite right.
I took it as her blaming him for the behaviour of the party – hence my interpretation.
But you’re right. She could have been blaming the Labour rebels for being pathetic.
I totally agree with Corbyn about the issues of unemployment etc not being purely Scottish ones. The only thing I will say on this matter is that most people down south don’t seem to know the difference between a “union” and a “merger”. We are supposedly a union but are treated as a merger with England.