“They will never take away our freedom,” William Wallace, masterfully played by Mel Gibson, shouted to the Scottish army before the battle of Stirling Bridge. A freedom that, on several occasions and with conflicting opinions, Scotland has claimed in its history and which today is blowing on the still hot ashes of Brexit.
It was June 23, 2016, exactly 5 years ago, when the British people were called upon to speak out in a referendum on the UK’s stay in the European Union. The outcome is known history that materially materialized on January 31, 2020 with the definitive exit from the Union after long months of negotiations. But if, in general terms, the gap between for and against was rather small (52% Yes against 48% No), in Scotland the population expressed itself much more clearly in favor of staying in the EU: 62% of Scots in fact, he voted to remain in the Union and none of the districts (constituencies) sided in favor of Brexit.
The letter to Europe
A decade later, the sentiment in Glasgow seems to have not changed, so much so that on 29 April, on the occasion of the elections and on the initiative of the English intellectual Anthony Barnett, the “Europe for Scotland” campaign was launched to reclaim the sentiment. pro-European who continues to share the United Kingdom: “Five years ago Scotland voted to remain in the European Union, a majority distributed throughout the territory – says Andrea Pisauro, Italian researcher and co-coordinator of the campaign from Oxford -. The striking thing is that in all these years the diversity of views between Scotland and England has been ignored, just as all the compromise proposals put forward by the Scottish government and parliament have been ignored, thus betraying the popular will ». An open letter from the movement was therefore addressed “to the attention of the presidents and heads of state of the EU member countries, the members of the European Parliament and the European Commission”, asking that the Union clearly indicate and “before any independence referendum ”, a shared path that allows Scotland to become a member country.
In favor of the referendum
An indignation that, contrary to what one might believe, is not only Scottish: even from England, in fact, the Brexit vote is seen as a clear testimony of its lack of autonomy and emancipation of the British from their Scottish cousins. “Scotland has the right to a referendum by virtue of the constitutional change that has been imposed on it – continues Pisauro -. I can therefore say that all of our signatories (over 10 thousand) are in favor of the referendum, but not necessarily independence. From our point of view, the focus is different: it is important that Europe clarifies to Scotland that, if it becomes independent, the doors to re-enter the EU would be wide open ».
To date, the campaign has been supported by numerous intellectuals from 30 European countries, including the Italians Roberto Saviano and Elena Ferrante.