EU membership more important than being part of UK, says SNP man Skene

Maintaining EU membership is more important to Scotland than being part of the UK, according to former SNP election candidate Danus Skene.

 

He believes the vote to leave the EU is an “unqualified catastrophe” that has left the country reeling in confusion as people realise there is not a “plan B”.

 

In a document compiled after last month’s Brexit vote, Mr Skene expresses his view that an internationalist Scotland needs to be in the EU and ditch the union. He asks: “What after all, is the UK for?”

 

However, he is not convinced that the SNP would be able to win an “IndyRef” in the short-term and predicts that a second referendum could not be held until about 2021. “Anything earlier risks the fatal outcome of a second failure”.

 

In the 4,800-word essay penned in the aftermath of the Leave campaign’s victory, Mr Skene explains the reason for his gloomy outlook.

 

“My own view is that if the Brexit decision is catastrophic, that is for political reasons. As an economic decision it is merely bloody stupid.

 

“At the national level of overall economic performance, it is hard to see how Brexit can do anything other than damage.”

 

And he blasted the “act of political blindness” that led to the EU exit door driven by a “Little England” mentality that stood in the way of Scotland’s internationalist ambitions.

 

He wrote: “Here in Scotland, it is hard not to see the Leave movement as a despairing act of English nationalism. Can we please leave global realities? Little England will be green and pleasant with cricket, warm beer and cucumber sandwiches. The responsibilities of the imperial past and the global refugee present can be sealed away.

 

“We Scots are desperate to join the world, but find ourselves facing a status as colonial subjects of an isolationist England.”

 

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