Conservative for Scottish Independence

I am a conservative, and I am in favour of Scottish independence.

There is a misguided and widespread belief that Scots are inherently more left-wing than the English, and that a vote for independence will spell the end of the rule of right-wing political parties that have no mandate amongst Scottish voters. It is commonly pointed out by people who would otherwise accuse the FPTP voting system of being unrepresentative and even undemocratic that Scotland only has one Conservative MP, and therefore Scots as a whole reject right-wing politics. It is prudent here to point out that the Scottish Conservative Party came only 3.2 percentage points behind the SNP in the 2010 UK election, and only 4 points behind Labour in the 2009 European elections. In the European elections in May, right-wing political parties (here I include only the Conservative and UKIP) received 27.7% of the Scottish vote. Of our 6 MEPs, a third are conservatives, a third are social democrats, and a third are nationalists. The SNP received 29% and Labour 25.9%. In the 1992 general election - after what is commonly described as decimation of Scotland by Thatcherism, after the Poll Tax and the social unrest - the Conservatives gained votes in Scotland and were the second-largest party, ahead of the Nationalists. It may be a long time ago, and I appreciate how much has changed in our political and social cultures since then, but in 1955 Scotland made history as the only region of the United Kingdom where one party - the Conservatives - ever received more than half of the popular vote. Even today in Perthshire and most of the south, there is a two-party system comprising the SNP and the Conservatives - not Labour.

So what is the point in pulling out these statistics, old and new? My point is that Scotland is not less conservative (small-'c') than England. In fact, Scottish National Party voters have more in common with Tories than they do with Labour Party supporters. Though much of the youth-based, artistic approach to 'Indyref' (e.g. the National Collective) is based on the idea that we should vote for independence to rid Scotland of the Tory demon forever, I sincerely doubt that most Scots would ever vote to become a high-tax, high-spend economy. Scots have always been entrepreneurial, and Scotland is seen by some, thanks to Adam Smith, as the home of liberal capitalism.

What Scottish voters reject is the current British Conservative Party, including its indistinguishable Scottish branch. As a small-'c' conservative I believe that the Conservative Party and the British electoral and political system currently favours England (and specifically London and the south-east) at the expense of Scotland. The referendum offers centre-rightists and naturally politically-pessimistic Scots a way to escape the malaise that is ensnaring British voters. For all her many good points, Margaret Thatcher was a disaster for Scotland, and her inability to understand the psyche of the Scottish people has allowed the left to continually blame fiscal conservatism for the growing cultural and national gap between Scotland and the rest of the UK and to dupe Scots into believing that all their ills can be cured by the policies of the Labour Party.

I am willing to predict that in the years following independence, the main three Scottish political parties - Labour, the SNP and the Conservatives - will either split apart, dissolve, or fade into obscurity. The SNP's main ideological fight will be over, and its more radical members will likely form their own group, leaving centrist SNP politicians (not to mention the multitudes socially conservative 'Tartan Tories' who vote for them) to form their own alliance. The ground for a centre-right political party to dominate Scottish party politics in these years is ripe, and no longer will the left be able to blame the London-centric Conservative and Unionist Party for all of Scotland's problems.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/columnists/a-yes-vote-could-be-making-of-the-right-wing-in-scotland.23240613

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 1

Quady

Do you mean the Conservative and Unionist Party?

Reply 2

Rakas21

A fantastic post from you as always.

In recent months I've moved to a position of opposing independence but previously I did support independence for essentially the same reasons.

At the very least I'm sure that both Scotland and the Scottish right will be successful.

Reply 3

L i b

I'm glad you've been consistent on the capitalisation there. You cannot be a Conservative and a nationalist: the Conservative and Unionist Party is, as its name suggests, inherently pro-UK.

I know fine well there are plenty of right-wing nationalists in Scotland. There are even one or two in the SNP ranks that could be identified as being of the centre-right.

In the 1992 general election - after what is commonly described as decimation of Scotland by Thatcherism, after the Poll Tax and the social unrest - the Conservatives gained votes in Scotland and were the second-largest party, ahead of the Nationalists. It may be a long time ago, and I appreciate how much has changed in our political and social cultures since then, but in 1955 Scotland made history as the only region of the United Kingdom where one party - the Conservatives - ever received more than half of the popular vote. Even today in Perthshire and most of the south, there is a two-party system comprising the SNP and the Conservatives - not Labour.

In most of the south, the 'two parties' are Conservatives and the Lib Dems. In many of these places, the SNP are nowhere.

What Scottish voters reject is the current British Conservative Party, including its indistinguishable Scottish branch.

Yeah, high-profile Scottish leader, distinctive Scottish policies. Totally 'indistinguishable'.

For all her many good points, Margaret Thatcher was a disaster for Scotland

Really? More than most places, she took a lingering economy in an advanced state of industrial decline and turned it around. She created the jobs Scotland has today. So no, I don't think she was a disaster at all - I think Scotland benefited from her policies more than most parts of the country.

Reply 4

Malorys ballsack

what a waste of time and money independence would be, Scotland is risking an unstable economy without being able to dictate monetary policy, it'll still be dictated to by the demands of Parliament because England is stronger, we speak the same language etc and share similiar values / geopolitical goals, seriously what the hell is the point.

Reply 5

FredOrJohn

The snp-escotia will take away self-determination not give it.
Currently scotland has 4 self determinations:

1) eu 2) uk 3) scotland and 4) local...

The snp want to take the whole islands rights of self determination away and leave us in isolated pockets - easy to control and cut off from each other. Perhaps to a degree of actually beginning to dislike each other.

Its awful, the referendum is easily the saddest political day of my life - and i think, in terms of voting - its the saddest vote since 1939

Conservative for Scottish Independence

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