The Scottish National Party and Transgender Issues
Independence should be the top priority of the indy movement
I.
There’s been a spat on Twitter today (2021-Feb-11) between Pete Wishart (SNP MP for Perth and North Perthshire, majority 7,550) and Joanna Cherry (SNP MP for Edinburgh South West, majority 11,982).
To which Cherry replied:
And added:
Cherry also posted today:
II.
This is important right now because we have had 21 opinion polls in a row supporting Scottish independence, which appears to now be the settled will of the Scottish people.
Why is this, when just 7 years ago, Scotland voted 55%-45% to remain in the UK? I suspect that one reason is that Scots believe Westminster doesn’t treat them with resepct. The day after the 2014 referendum, then Prime Minister David Cameron announced English Votes for English Laws.
Two years laters, there was another referendum, on Brexit. Westminster asked Scots “Do you want to remain in the EU?” Scots replied by 62%-38% “Yes, we do”. Westminster then said “Fuck you Scotland, you’re leaving the EU whether you like it or not!”
If England can have English votes of English laws, then surely Scotland can have Scottish votes for Scottish EU membership? Not according to Westminster we can’t.
III.
So what should be done about trans issues? This issue has split independence supporters, most of whom would be both disappointed and annoyed if it derails independence. So how can we make sure that doesn’t happen?
Parties sometimes resolve issues when they are internally split by handing over the issue to the people in a referendum; this happened with Britain’s 1975 referendum on EU membership, when the Labour party was divided on the issue. SNP policy is that Scotland should be an independent democratic country, and I cannot see how any democrat could disagree in principle to a referendum on trans issues. Putting these issues to the people may defuse the internal debate in the SNP.
The SNP need to decide that in the May elections, independence is the top priority, and that a referendum about trans issues will happen after any referendum on independence.
IV.
How might such a referendum go? The most recent relevant opinion poll I know is one YouGov did in July 2020. An actual referendum might go differently however, because:
It’s a UK-wide poll and Scottish opinion might be different
Polls aren’t 100% accurate anyway
Public opinion might change between 2020 and whenever a referendum is held
Campaigns during the referendum might change public opinion
With those provisos in mind, what were the results of the 2020 poll?
The full survey is here.