Scotland out of the EU

Scotland: How not to be a pawn in a Germany v UK chess match

by R J Hainey · Published February 21, 2017 · Updated February 21, 2017

Elmar Brok

There was a story floating around cybernat social media enclaves yesterday which I had mixed feelings about. It was the one about a senior MEP threatening to take Scotland’s side.

Elmar Brok who is a close ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a warning against the UK government’s divide and rule tactics.

They believe they can take members of parliament out of certain nations…to win support by dividing us. If they try to negotiate while trying to interfere in our side then we can do that too. We can make a big fuss over Scotland. Or Northern Ireland.

This could be great news as there is a high probability that negotiations between an over optimistic UK and 27 diverse countries could go drastically wrong.

It is also a very disheartening comment as it shows Germany’s support for us is only conditional. Despite Scotland showing faith in the EU project, all we are guaranteed to get back in return is sympathy. They might help us but only to put pressure on the UK government if the UK don’t play ball. It’s a shite state of affairs as a famous Scottish film character once said.

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Despite us being the most pro EU country in the UK, the EU failed to help us in 2014 and they may well fail to help us now. That said, we can’t really blame them for that as it’s our own fault.

In a fair world things would be different but getting what they see as a good deal with the UK is more important to them than helping Scotland. Besides they have rules. Their rules clearly state that they won’t negotiate with entities that aren’t proper countries. We are merely a region of the UK and that is how the EU will treat us until we are not.

Numerous EU figures and experts have told us this. Recently it was confirmed by a senior figure within the German ruling party.

Now – it is, at the moment – lets say as far as the German Government, and for that matter all the political parties, are concerned an internal matter. But the situation could change.
As far as the German scene is concerned, Scottish independence remains for the time being a type of fantasy. This considers the first vote in 2014. So one can say it is independence or nothing. After independence, then we can talk about EU and all of that. All of it.
The story would be different with independence and our calculus would transform. And it’s hard to see major difficulties once the story changes for Scotland joining the EU, yes.

We have spoken about the lack of sovereignty Scotland has within the UK before. This same lack of sovereignty is why the Germans can talk about us like we are a pawn in political game of chess.

Unionists may be happy about this situation as it makes sense if you think that Scotland is just a region of the UK. It is people who don’t like the situation but still won’t take the risk of independence I find harder to understand. Surely, anything has to be better than having your fate decided in a game of political football you have little control over?

If you don’t want your country to be perpetually reliant on the whims of other countries then independence is the only answer.