boris johnson in scottish net

Editorial of “The World”. Nearly five years after the British vote in favor of leaving the European Union (EU), four months after a scrapped agreement, Brexit is anything but a closed file. Not only for the British European neighbors, with whom none of the major issues of separation – customs procedures, Ireland, fishing, financial equivalence – have really been resolved. But even for the United Kingdom, where Brexit exacerbates separatist tendencies in two “nations” – Scotland and Northern Ireland – who vote primarily to remain in the EU, feel betrayed by “Brexit” by Boris Johnson. .

In this context, the reinforced majority in Edinburgh’s parliament won by two Scottish parties in favor of independence – the Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Greens – seems to be a new wake-up call in the elections of Thursday 6 May 314 years ago. The union between England and Scotland was sealed.

Brexit, long an expression of English nationalism, legitimized a Scottish nationalism already reinforced by the transfer of power to local government and the intelligence of SNP leaders. Alex Salmond and then Nicola Sturgeon transformed the once folkloric party into an effective pro-European political machine, social democratic inspiration, able to combine nationalism hostile to “Westminster” with a genuine openness to immigrants .

chain reaction of nationalists

Confirmed by Thursday’s vote, M^{to me} Sturgeon, the first minister in the Edinburgh government, promised a new referendum on independence within two and a half years; in 2014, 55.3% of Scots had chosen to remain in the United Kingdom. This is encouraged by a series of favorable elections. Boris Johnson, he refused a new consultation from Scots, stressed the need to rally all forces against Covid-19 and forecast a recent decline in freedom of opinion.

As the pandemic eases, he expects voters to pay more attention to the Scottish government’s average performance in certain areas, such as education. But he knows that prolonged protest on his part will only strengthen the independence camp. I^{to me} Sturgeon, which needs London’s approval and rejects the hypothesis of a brutal Catalan consultation, plans to vote Edinburgh’s parliament in 2022 by legislation calling for a new referendum. Then the conflict with London allowed him to stand trial in denial of democracy. His party is already accusing Mr Johnson of behaving like this.” Overlord » of Scotland.

Scotland’s independence is by no means self-evident, nor from an economic point of view – the province is subsidized by London – nor politically – what about the border between EU member Scotland and England? But Brexit has strengthened its rhetoric by pulling Scots out of the EU against their will. Mr Johnson’s violent divorce from Europe and the many uncertainties surrounding the country’s new separation also feed centrifugal tendencies. As was his refusal to consult Edinburgh during the pandemic.

Could a prime minister who has successfully instigated the idea of ​​sovereignty to justify leaving the European Union for long enough to deprive Scots of England’s right to exercise their authority? Brexit sparked a chain reaction of nationalism, at the risk of a long-unimaginable scenario: the gradual dissolution of the United Kingdom.