The talk was in the magnificent surroundings of the new Innovation centre at Strathclyde University and we were surrounded by examples of cutting edge research in engineering and biology etc. The building itself was fittingly partly EU funded.
Now Fiona's talk was very interesting and fast paced with a lot of information about steps the Scottish Government is taking to nurture ongoing links with various countries of Europe and also countries in the Arctic alliance. Now this is all positive stuff but overall the gist of what she said was that the Scottish Government is maintaining quite a pragmatic approach. If they were to go all huffy and say "All we want is to stay in the EU" then we would not be able to get involved in talks to get the best possible deal for Scotland. So that was really the gist of what she was saying. I will bulk that out with some detail towards the end of my post here. But while en route home on the train, I realised that the people I spoke to over coffee and the people who had asked questions really did tell the full picture of what the impact of Brexit really means to Scotland. So hear goes - why not read on and hear what those people had to say ....
- I met a lady who works for the Scottish Government and had worked on the comprehensive document that the Scottish government sent to the UK government - I think its called Scotland's place in Europe. Now as far as I can tell this was ignored by the UK government even though it sought a compromise.... a sign that the UK government always wanted a Hard Brexit ? or at least Theresa May?
- I was then talking to a man about the various degree courses or job choices of the young folk in our families - the future is a worry at the best of times but the situation is so unsettled at the moment. But we were talking about some of the excellent courses and modern choices of courses available in Glasgow at the moment.
- I was talking to someone who works with refugees via a well known charity. He spoke of a young person from Syria who said Damascus was the most beautiful city. But his house is now gone. How sad. I hope he can find a good home in Scotland and hopefully one day he may be able to return to his beautiful city.
- I met a man whose son and various colleagues who work in IT are heading out to work in Europe for a more innovative company out there. They are moving.
- I met a woman who had dual passports due to having British, French, Spanish and Italian in her family tree ! She will have access to all 28 countries of the EU to live/work, unlike myself who potentially could be stuck on the UK. She is also a supporter of Independent Scotland. Seems like a good idea - the idea of a modern Scotland in Europe definitely sounds appealing.
- I will mention here one of the questioners from the talk. This man had been here for over 40 years and had paid taxes all that time yet was disenfranchised. He does not get to vote including in the EU Referendum. He suggested that we should look at our own democracy here in the UK as we are a country, before we start suggesting that the EU, which is not even a country, should be democratic !
- I also met someone with an Irish passport. Someone else I spoke to was telling me that apparently 1 out of 5 people in Scotland will have access to an Irish passport due to so many folk having moved here from Ireland. In fact I suspect it could be more than that based on the people I know. But again we have here a big unfairness - an ironic unfairness considering how the Irish were treated when first moving here to get a better life ! but I too have some Irish in my family tree (as well as some French) but it was a great grandparents who came from Ireland who are in my family tree - too far back to get an EU passport !
- I met a man who is the retiring head of the Royal Society of Edinburgh who was happy to sign my giant passport with no hesitation having read the statement. (see my other post here !)
- I met a lovely elderly lady (I only say that to put her comment in context), who obviously felt that Scotland's outlook should be worldwide. She harked back to the days when indeed Scotland did lead the British Empire. (If you weren't aware, Glasgow was the Second City of the Empire). We built railroads in Canada etc, even when our population was only 2 million we sent people all over the world. Her family had had a plantation in Malaysia and she was brought up in India. Indeed in my own family I had a great uncle who worked in a rubber plantation in the far East post WW1 and other family members who worked as doctors in India at that time. So it didn't sound like she was a fan of the EU in particular and did not want to sign my giant EU passport ! However its always good to hear other stories. I just wonder how much this ties in with the reality of life nowadays and in fact we can still trade worldwide. Who knows maybe she is right. I like to be open minded. But for myself I find Europe is adventure enough .... maybe that's just me though !
- I then met a man who is the Director of a fairly large renewables company in Scotland. He wanted action now. I don't get the feeling the Scottish government's pragmatic approach was going down well with him ! He obviously felt that there was some leverage to be had over the DUP and the Sinn Fein situation. And I think basically he was saying he wanted to stay in the Single Market. He was also talking about the fact that the NI situation is now interesting as I would agree. So they potentially are getting a lot of benefits, including being able to be members of the EU and along with getting this £1billion extra, the question really has to be "If NI can get it then why not Scotland". Scotland has asked to have different treatment so why not if NI can get it?!? He was also talking about how the SNP do not sit in the House of Lords. This was something Fiona Hyslop had mentioned but I hadn't realised that. I am not sure I can see why they would go to the House of Commons and then not to the House of Lords .... He was also talking about the terrible terminology being used even this morning by the UK Government with regards to EU migrants ...
Some pieces I noted from Fiona Hyslop's talk (obviously in my own words/interpretation):
She had been at a film festival in L'Orient in France which features Scottish films and she mentioned one directed by Shiela Hancock which is set in Suilven and Lochinver so I must get to see that ! Its called "Easy" I think.
She mentioned that the Joint Ministerial Committee must be re-set. Need to make sure Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh voices are heard. Other EU nations dont understand why the devolved nations are not included.
She talked about the North Perthshire/ House of Lords thing and how democracy works. I guess if its not working then its not democracy.
Apparently with Article 50 some of the other nations were concerned re: the phrasing of the security phrasing. Some took it to mean different things. Those who had emerged from behind the Iron Curtain would come at it from very different experiences I guess and might read different things into it.
Apparently Italy had appreciated when Scotland guaranteed continuity to students already embarked on degree courses from the EU. And some see Scotland as the "Common Sense voice in the UK" !
We are going to need relationships with the EU for things like Education, Climate Change, Environment, etc And Glasgow has the upcoming European Championships hosted jointly with Berlin. There are numerous cases like this where we can maintain links and work to maintain goodwill between our countries. Co-operation is needed more than ever, so its ironic we are leaving.
We need to be realistic about what Scotland can achieve, but she was impressed when one of our minsters Alastair Allan ? conducted a meeting in Norway entirely in Norwegian ! Of course there are probably quite a few people in Scotland who can make a good attempt at Norwegian, with so many having worked across the North Sea in the oil industry.
She talked about how an exporter might start with working with Ireland to get started - the SF7 ?? thing helped collaboration in food and drink sector
Scotland will maintain its pro-EU outlook, while maybe working towards Independence. If powers get repatriated back to the UK and get devolved to the individual nations, there may come a time when people question what the UK is actually for ?
Scotland needs the "Least worst deal as cant allow paralysis - the most pain free - but it will be hard/brutal"
At the questions at the end, one lady who had lived here as an EU citizen (migrant to use the tabloid speak) said that the problem is that our immigrants are so well integrated into the country here in Scotland that it is hard to tell their story. But certainly even among those I personally know there are an awful lot of very stressful situations going on for people and they are being treated very badly at the moment.
Scotland needs the "Least worst deal as cant allow paralysis - the most pain free - but it will be hard/brutal"
At the questions at the end, one lady who had lived here as an EU citizen (migrant to use the tabloid speak) said that the problem is that our immigrants are so well integrated into the country here in Scotland that it is hard to tell their story. But certainly even among those I personally know there are an awful lot of very stressful situations going on for people and they are being treated very badly at the moment.
No comments:
Post a Comment