Ian Cowley, who currently lives in the Basque Country, says Scotland must unite to keep its place in Europe
I GREW up in Scotland in the 1980s and 1990s seeing first-hand how the policies of Margaret Thatcher’s Tory government destroyed families, communities, towns and cities.
One great beacon of hope in those days was the opportunity that Europe presented. It was a shining light among grey, damp post-industrial Scotland. I remember following with great interest the signing of the Maastricht Treaty which effectively created the European Union as it is today.
I remember vividly how former UK Prime Minister John Major battled against rebels in his own party to push through ratification of the treaty, without the need for a referendum. It was a pressing topic much discussed in my secondary school French classes.
After leaving school I spent a year studying the French baccalauréat in France before returning to Scotland to take up my university place. While at university I benefited from the Erasmus programme. Upon completing my degree I lived and worked for many years in Madrid, Spain.
I always imagined that one day I would be able to take advantage of Maastricht to live and work freely within the European Union. Well, unlike the uncertain future facing today’s younger Scottish generation, I got my chance.
After leaving school I spent a year studying the French baccalauréat in France before returning to Scotland to take up my university place. While at university I benefited from the Erasmus programme. Upon completing my degree I lived and worked for many years in Madrid, Spain.
Returning to my homeland in 2012 to a new job with my young family in tow, I got caught up in the illusion of the first Scottish independence referendum. Finally, this was a chance to show the world that Scotland was an outward looking nation, welcoming to people from other countries.
We could look after our own affairs and a fairer income redistribution would mean reducing inequality and poverty in Scotland. The ideology of a Westminster government, bent on restricting freedom of movement, curbing human rights and cutting public spending contrasted sharply with Scottish Government policy. Scotland and England were moving in completely opposite directions.
MEP Alyn Smith’s rousing speech in the European Parliament this week brought tears to my eyes. I thought of my two young daughters who may never have the opportunity to live, study and work in Europe which I have enjoyed.
Sadly it wasn’t to be. Disheartened by the outcome of the Scottish referendum, and disappointed at how so many Scots had been unable to see the positive reasons behind a vote for independence, portraying the SNP as inward-looking and selfish, I took up a new job in the Spanish Basque Country. A progressive and outward looking part of the world, the Basque Country has many things in common with Scotland. Not least its green, mountainous landscapes and perma-rain.
Respite in Europe I thought would help get over the pain of being on the losing side of the Scottish referendum. But another referendum was looming. One that would have far greater impact on the lives of millions of people. And one borne out of an Eton schoolboy rivalry.
It’s easy to talk in hindsight, but the rise of Ukip combined with the lurch to the right of the Tory party and the disintegration of the Labour party mean Brexit cannot be viewed as a surprise. The fact that Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain within the EU is just further evidence of the vast difference in the mindsets of the people of those two countries.
The EU is not perfect by any means, but surely the only way to help reform it and move it forward is to be within it? MEP Alyn Smith’s rousing speech in the European Parliament this week brought tears to my eyes. I thought of my two young daughters who may never have the opportunity to live, study and work in Europe which I have enjoyed. I am now seriously considering applying for Spanish nationality in order to remain an EU citizen.
The EU is not perfect by any means, but surely the only way to help reform it and move it forward is to be within it?
With Nicola Sturgeon the only competent political leader left in the UK, we must get behind her to support her bid to help keep Scotland in Europe. If the only way to ensure we remain in the EU means a second independence referendum must take place, then so be it.
I believe that now more than ever we Scots need to unite for a common cause to ensure Scotland remains within the EU.
Picture courtesy of Michael Sauers
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