DEVOLUTION IS UNDER A GLASS CEILING

There is much to be said from Anglo British Nationalists and their argument to remain in the Union.  To some these arguments can be compelling and quite probable. The greatest argument we hear in Holyrood is that the SNP needs to focus on delivering for Scotland. That the Scottish people are more interested, the cost of living crisis, improving the NHS, and reducing child poverty than they are independence. 

This could very well be true and to be fair Humza Yousaf has declared these issues a priority for his new cabinet to deliver upon. Now my problem is that these are first world problems that any country would rectify by changing policy or borrowing money. If we look at the way that The Anglo British Nationalist opposition parties in Holyrood criticise the SNP by constantly pointing out they are not delivering you need to ask yourself  it is actually possible to fix these problems while we remain devolved? 

But in reality we just don’t have those powers to fix the very problems that our people value the most. We cannot borrow, and if we raise taxes for funding, we are then criticised for doing that too. It’s like the limitation of devolution is by design doomed to fail however if your a Unionist party holding power in Holyrood you just don’t hear it as often!  When we do manage to work with the limited framework competency that devolution allows and get it right, it is usually at the limit of those meagre powers. For example We offset child poverty as best as possible with the Scottish Child payment. But to rectify this forever, with fair and comprehensive taxation, international trade, lowering food and energy prices, basically making Scotland a fairer wealthier society, well these are things we just cannot do while we remain under the glass ceiling of devolution. 

And that’s just it.  

All the problems that Scotland faces cannot be resolved while the powers necessary to do so reside above the glass ceiling in a place devolved  Scotland cannot go. We push the competencies of devolution to the limit and truly, what more can be done within the constraints of these competencies other than hear the Scotland Bad rhetoric from the Anglophiles when they use this to constantly berate our Independence Party of Government. Scotland needs to learn  that we are not a country that is autonomous in policy and economy. We are hamstrung by this union to deliver for our nation and unfortunately many of our people do accept this and actually believe we are a normal nation, and that union of equals is just that. 

Scotland is not a normal nation while working under that glass ceiling it never will be. We have taken devolution as far as possible and when we push its boundaries our democracy is limited by the equality of the union itself by such things as a Section 35 or the potential use of clauses in the Internal Market Act. The Glass ceiling that prevents us from delivering for our people needs to be smashed. We cannot have children going to bed hungry. We cannot have pensioners in poverty due to crappy pensions and we cannot have every household in Scotland have the issue of energy poverty. 

We are a developed nation with underdeveloped powers. This needs to change. And the only way it will is if we win our independence.