Tory Minister: “Gut feeling” is that Scotland will back national independence
A TORY MP AND GOVERNMENT MINISTER has broken ranks with party leadership and admitted that he sees Scotland moving towards full independence and self-government.
MP Guto Bebb, a government minister in the Tory Government’s Wales Office, made the extraordinary admission writing in the North Wales Weekly News after a visit to Edinburgh left him stunned at the sense of growing self-confidence in Scotland’s European capital.
He said it was clear from his visit – and awareness of Scotland’s national debate and the feeling in Edinburgh – that Scotland was “changing” away from the old political union with Westminster towards self-government, and that “nationhood in Edinburgh is palpable”.
Bebb admitted that his visit to Edinburgh for the meeting of Irish, Scottish, English, Welsh and Northern Irish Governments felt like visiting the capital of an independent country.
“For a long time [Scotland] has been satisfied within the UK…Is that changing though? My gut feeling is yes”. Wales Office minister Guto Bebb MP
“My brief visit to Edinburgh left me somewhat despondent because I felt the same way as I do when I leave Dublin,” he said.
“For me Dublin is somewhere which is recognisable but very different. That is fine in the context of the capital of an independent country but it should be a warning when visiting a city which is a crucial part of the UK.
“The sense of nationhood in Edinburgh is palpable. For a long time it has been satisfied within the UK. Even in 2014 a majority saw themselves as British and Scottish.
“Is that changing though? My gut feeling is yes and that should be a cause for regret to all of us.”
His comments coincide with the reignited debate on Scottish independence, following the refusal of the Tory Government to consider a compromise for Scotland on the current Brexit process. Instead of respect the votes in Scotland and Northern Ireland to remain in the EU, Theresa May announced plans to push ahead with a Hard Brexit from the EU and the European Single Market.
Bebb added that if you “read their papers, listen to talk shows and watch the news and it’s clearly another country”.
Picture courtesy of Parliament TV
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