The movement for Scottish independence has an "unstoppable" quality, according to Green Party leader Zack Polanski. Speaking at a press conference concluding his visit to Scotland on Friday, Mr Polanski voiced strong support for separation should the electorate choose it and criticised the UK Government's approach as "sinister."
Polanski's Remarks in Glasgow
Addressing journalists in Glasgow, Mr Polanski stated: "I realise the question is a bit meta, because it’s definitely not for me to recommend to Scottish politicians what they should do, and what I think the Westminster Government should do is to recognise the democratic will of the Scottish people. I think there’s something unstoppable about a movement happening in this country, and I think the conversation is starting to happen in Wales, too… they’re a few years behind the conversation, I guess, about independence, but it’s certainly starting to bubble away."
He added: "There’s only so long you can keep people in a system or in a process that is against their will before people understand – they get more resentful, more angry, more frustrated. I think that’s been happening in Scotland for a while and I think it gets to the point where I can’t see why a UK Prime Minister would want to keep a country in a union who had demonstrated so clearly with votes that they didn’t want to be in that union any more."
House Party Analogy
The Green Party leader likened the UK Government’s stance to "having a house party and your guests tell you they really don’t want to be there, but you’ve locked the doors." He also targeted Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who stated on LBC that there would be no second referendum even if the SNP wins the majority First Minister John Swinney has set as a precondition. Mr Polanski accused Mr Streeting of acting "as if Westminster owns Scotland," asking: "Who the hell does Wes Streeting think he is? The way he spoke about Scotland recently is as if Westminster owns Scotland, as if you need to bring out your begging bowl and ask for permission."
Swinney's Response
During a visit to Greenock Morton FC on Friday, First Minister John Swinney commented: "This is voluntary union, I keep on hearing that term being used. Then, when the next question comes about how does Scotland make its choice about whether to stay in that voluntary union, there is a stunned silence from every one of my rivals in the UK parties. What he (Mr Polanski) said is fundamentally the right position, the people of Scotland are sovereign, they are entitled to take their own decisions about the constitutional future of Scotland, and if they have a desire to do so they should be able to do so."
When asked if Mr Polanski was adopting a stronger stance, Mr Swinney replied: "I think I have been pretty bold and unapologetic on the independence question. The guaranteed route to get a referendum on independence is to vote for the SNP, give us a majority, and repeat the circumstances of 2011 which created a precedent whereby Scotland was able to secure a referendum on her constitutional future."
