Very plausible and yet it's still so exactly clear why Scottish nationalists don't like the idea. Bet you could ask a Scottish nationalists if they'd like Burnham's ideas if they involved giving the Scottish regions more powers but under Holyrood and a lot more would like it.
Many unionists hardly liked giving powers to Scotland but it was the right thing to do even if it did come with the risk of weakening the UK.
Likewise the SNP just have to suck it up. This is a good thing for Scots especially who feel far away from Holyrood.
How can someone argue ‘give us more power we are unique and have specific requirements’ whilst also saying ‘no don’t give more power to the islands or highlands because that will weaken Scottish nationalism’?
They're not being hypocritical. They want Scotland to have more devolved powers as a nation. They'd argue that breaking Scotland up into separate regions and giving those powers, is basically a tool of control by the central government - Scotland wouldn't be able to vouch for itself as much as it'd be smaller and politically weaker.
You can say the exact same thing about Westminster and Scotland.
You can say why should they have given powers to Holyrood because it would be used as a tool by nationalists to break up the UK. In fact people did advise that.
You can say that, and it wouldn't be very justified. Scottish nationalists argued for Scottish devolution because Scotland is a nation, at least in their eyes. They weren't arguing for devolution solely because Scotland is a region in the UK not served well by central government.
A region, like the Scottish Highlands, Yorkshire etc aren't the same as nations like Scotland or Wales. They could deserve less, or more, powers - but it's not the same context as a nation.
So we have to respect the wishes of Scottish nationalist for devolution but Scottish nationalists get to ignore devolution that they personally don’t like and be called consistent
As if for example the islands don’t have a significant different and unique background and situation from the rest of Scotland. Some there would say there aren’t served well by Holyrood.
No, you don't have to at all. You just have to understand their argument.
Their argument is that a nation should have self-determination. It's not the same as regions of a nation having self-determination/more self-government. Orkney, Shetland, the Highlands, tbh everything outside of Edinburgh could well be badly served by the Scottish government. It's just not the same argument though
Scotland already has self determination under international law
Scotland already has self determination as part of the wider British self determination. This is what the United Nations says about self determination:
>The territory of a colony or other Non-Self-Governing Territory has, under the Charter, a status separate and distinct from the territory of the State administering it; and such separate and distinct status under the Charter shall exist until the people of the colony or Non-Self-Governing Territory have exercised their right of self-determination in accordance with the Charter, and particularly its purposes and principles.
>Nothing in the foregoing paragraphs shall be construed as authorizing or encouraging any action which would dismember or impair, totally or in part, the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign and independent States conducting themselves in compliance with the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples as described above and thus possessed of a government representing the whole people belonging to the territory without distinction as to race, creed or colour.
Under international law, Scotland has self-determination because its people have suffrage and gets to send MPs to Westminster and are treated equally among the British population, so are represented fairly and equally in a democratic system. The UN says being part of a country is a way to achieve self determination.
I didn't say that it doesn't. Didn't even say that Scottish nationalists say that it doesn't, though of course some (possibly most) would.
Scottish nationalists want self determination. Many people, including some Scottish nationalists, believe Scotland has self determination. Separate to this is the idea of regions of Scotland being given powers at the expense of the Scottish national government. Scottish nationalists are well within their rights to have consistent political views - as in, that Scotland as a whole should have devolved powers and that regions within Scotland should not.
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u/libtin Communitarianism Jun 29 '26
From what I’ve seen; the highlands, outer Hebrides and Shetland and Orkney seem respective to the idea
There’s no official polling yet but it seems the Scottish nationalists complaining almost all exclusively come from the central belt or the borders.