Scotland is a Remain country. You were let down - badly - by my fellow English voters in 2016. Whilst you voted overwhelmingly to back the enormous benefits of EU membership, we tipped the balance and voted to drag the whole of the UK out of Europe. I’m sorry.
Now, though, we are in the fight of our lives to stop this Brexit mess. The only way to solve the problems of the last referendum is via another vote - this time on the facts rather than on Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson’s fantasies.
I respect the leadership that Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has shown in support of a People’s Vote to stop Brexit. In leaving aside questions about Scotland’s relationship to the UK - for now - she has given us a chance of delivering for the Scottish people on the critical and urgent question of the UK’s relationship with our biggest and most important allies and trading partners. She has also shown that it is possible to rise above the partisan melee on Brexit. Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland - all will be poorer outside the EU, and the relationships between all four will also be impoverished.
On Brexit, so far, my own Labour party has failed to provide the necessary leadership. We are stuck in a position of nothingness - waiting to see what Theresa May comes up with rather than articulating our own vision for a Scotland and a Britain that are proudly European. Labour votes and a Labour government were crucial for taking us into Europe in the 1970s, and most Labour MPs and party members support a final say for voters on whatever May manages to negotiate (if she manages to negotiate anything at all). Our leaders now need to lead or young people in particular will turn away in disgust, outraged that their voices are being ignored, astonished that 700,000 people marching on Parliament have not been heeded.
Over the last three days I have been with young people in Aberdeen, Perth, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Their message is a stark warning to Labour. Listen to us or face the consequences at the ballot box.
Across the UK, Labour is in danger of alienating our voters, supporters and members by looking like followers on Brexit rather than the leaders people expect us to be. Nowhere is that more true than here in Scotland. Polls show that two-thirds of Scottish voters want a People’s Vote. This includes virtually every group and every city and region of the nation. Among Labour supporters in Scotland backing for a people’s vote rises to 86 percent.
So here is what needs to happen. Labour needs to lead not follow. In Scotland, Labour, the SNP, the Lib Dems and the Greens should make common cause against Brexit. There is a historic opportunity for Scottish Labour to show that - far from being a ‘branch office’ - it can inspire the party across the UK and change UK-wide policy.
Urgently, Scottish Labour should say to Jeremy Corbyn that a People’s Vote cannot be the least worst option in terms of party policy but must be the vow that Labour makes to voters. Nicola Sturgeon’s big, bold offer to trust voters in Scotland and beyond on Brexit is a wake up call to Scottish Labour. But it is also an opportunity. Scottish Labour now needs to step up and stand up for the voters - and the nation.
Lord Adonis is a Labour peer
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