Scottish independence: UK Government rules out any attempt by Alex Salmond and unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to circumvent EU accession treaty rules, if Scotland was independent it would have to put in a fresh application, SNP’s plans in meltdown over EU membership

Dear All

One of the biggest blunders politically by Scotland’s ‘jolly fat man’ Alex Salmond has been on the issue of the European Union.

And yet again, and it’s an old story whether the SNP are concerned, it all revolves around Law.

The SNP said that Scotland would have automatic membership of the EU.

That’s a lie!

The SNP said that the Scottish Government had legal advice on the EU.

That’s a lie!

In fact neither as an opposition nor as an administration did the SNP ever bother to officially ask.

And who could forget that night in 2012 at the BBC Big Debate when Ruth Davidson pulled out a letter and blew unpopular Nicola Sturgeon apart on TV in front of a live studio audience.

That night was a personal disaster, in the debate, she came last! Everyone else had a decent night including Patrick Harvie who decided that truth was the order of the day.

Sturgeon’s story telling completely bombed!

If Scotland was independent, it would lose automatically EU membership, the lie feed to voters that we would just transfer over during talks is nonsense, utter nonsense; law doesn’t work that way.

A fresh application would have to be made and all the processes followed.

The UK Government has categorically ruled out the SNP's proposal to avoid the normal accession process.

All EU members are entitled to have a vote on whether Scotland can have membership, this cannot be worked around.

So, this has led to the prospect of an independent Scotland staying in the European Union being described as "a corpse".

Yup, pretty much sounds right on the money.

Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael trooped into Holyrood to share the bad news to the Nationalists who are steadily seeing their plans implode as each day passes.

The Scottish Government's plan is now "riddled with bullets" saysScottish Secretary Alistair Carmichae.

Although Scotland would still be a member of the UK and EU between the referendum and the increasingly unlikely “independence day”, EU funding would be put on hold and no new grants would be issued.

This is because Scotland wouldn’t be a member until the processes were agreed.

The SNP-administration hoped to circumvent the normal EU accession process, set out in article 49 of the Lisbon Treaty, by asking Westminster to propose an amendment to the treaty to write Scotland in as a continuing state, using a procedure set out in article 48.

That isn’t going to happen, although there is an Edinburgh agreement to run a referendum, that doesn’t extend beyond that, and with a possible change of government in 2015, if Labour is elected, they aren’t committed to anything, not even goodwill.

Chancellor George Osborne has already categorically ruled out sharing the pound in a currency union with an independent Scotland.

That pretty much sunk the Nationalist case for garnering votes using the nothing will change strategy.

When asked to follow suit and categorically rule out using article 48, Mr Carmichael said:

"That has been done. The UK Government is perfectly clear that the purpose of article 48 is for treaty revisions. The purpose of article 49 is for accession applications. The difficulty for the Scottish Government is you require to get agreement ultimately on all 28 member states, so getting a categoric position from the UK Government is only one 28th of what they need to do."

Short version, they’re fucked on getting a free pass.

Conservative MSP Jamie McGrigor called on Mr Carmichael to "shoot the fox" of article 48 which Carmichael duly did with both barrels.

Speaking after the committee, Mr Carmichael said:

"I think that is a fox, the corpse of which is riddled with bullets. It is barely recognisable as a fox anymore."

Carmichael added:

"The Scottish Government is taking us down an untested constitutional path with no idea where it will lead. My concern is that Scotland is going to be treated as a guinea pig, with no idea about what the experiment will do to us."

One of the gags that the SNP have used to shore up their house of cards is to say they have ‘experts’ giving them their opinions.

Who are these ‘experts’?

They are people who have no say in the EU, therefore their opinion is meaningless in real terms of advancement of the SNP cause; it isn’t like they found a smoking gun which nails down membership.

Not a bit of it, their opinion is the same as a man in the street.

Carmichael also rejected the opinion of European Court judge Sir David Edward (SNP expert), who said Scottish citizens would not automatically lose their EU citizenship if they voted to leave the UK.

He cited the case of suspected fraudster Janko Rottman, who lost his German and Austrian dual citizenship and was rendered stateless by the EU.

Carmichael said:

"The court heard that a member state must exercise its powers to withdraw an individual's nationality compatibly with the principles of EU law. That in itself is a very clear recognition by the European Court of Justice that the question of citizenship in EU terms of the sort that Sir David was talking about is quite different and that it can indeed be withdrawn. And I think it would be quite consistent with that judgment to say that if Scotland were to vote to leave the UK and tends to leave the EU then one of the consequences of that would be a loss of EU citizenship”.

No membership not an EU citizen.

On the issue of nationality, it is clear that anyone born prior to the vote would if independence happened still be a British Citizen under international law.

To return to Carmicheal’s example on removal of Janko Rottman, he said:

"That would certainly not be contrary to any principles of EU law."

The judgement in Rottman V Bavaria concluded:

"It is not contrary to European Union law for a member state to withdraw from a citizen of the union the nationality of that state acquired by naturalisation when that nationality was obtained by deception, on condition that the decision to withdraw observes the principle of proportionality."

That is difference obviously to being born in a member state; it would fall under human rights legislation.

Committee convener Christina McKelvie expressed doubt that the UK Government would veto the use of article 48 if Scotland becomes independent.

Well, how can she be confused, Carmichael has stated the position, Article 48 will not be used and the SNP would be required to use Article 49 to submit a fresh application.

She said:

"I am absolutely confused today, because I'm not sure whether the Secretary of State for Scotland is Scotland's man in Westminster or you are Westminster's man in Scotland. "It seems to have shifted back and forward all morning."

Grudge, grievance and malcontent, this is the SNP’s answer to everything.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University