"If there is a way to stay in the EU, I am determined to pursue it," proclaimed Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in an interview with Greece's To Ethnos newspaper, noting that Scottish parliament is looking into legal grounds for a new referendum on secession from UK. This confirms JPMorgan's base case that Scotland will vote for independence and institute a new currency at that point. Shortly after Sturgeon's comments, The Queen made her first post-Brexit speech (ironically in Scottish parliament) urging Britons to "stay calm and focused," pointedly noting "real leadership requires deeper and more dispassionate thinking in turbulent times."
A nation divided…
Whih explains why Scotland is looking into legal grounds for holding new referendum on secession from UK, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is cited as saying in interview with Greece’s To Ethnos newspaper. As Bloomberg reports,
Other means are being examined in order to block Brexit include debate and vote in Scottish parliament, which would create constitutional issue for UK.
"We are in uncharted waters," Sturgeon says, adding that “all options are on the table”
“Scotland will continue to consider EU citizens welcome to reside and work in the country”
“If there is a way to stay in the EU, I am determined to pursue it,” first minister says, adding that she is very satisfied from her exchanges with EU officials in Brussels.
Main motive behind decision of many Scots to vote against independence was that staying part of the UK meant staying part of the EU; that motive doesn’t exist anymore, “thus creating new conditions”
* * *
Still, as we also cautioned previously, any veto or scuttling threat may be merely Scotland clutching at straws.
Scottish Secretary and Conservative MP David Mundell said: "We have to respect the result on Thursday, even if we don't like it – it was a UK wide vote – it was a vote by people across the UK."
Asked about the possibility of Scotland stopping Brexit, he said: "What we need to see is the legal mechanism that we go through to get to a situation of the UK leaving" and then said clearly that "I personally don't believe the Scottish Parliament is in position to block Brexit, but I haven't seen the legal documentation that you refer to in your interview with Nicola [Sturgeon]."
It is unclear what the final legal determination will be on this subject, but if somehow Scotland does succeed in scuttling a historic referendum decision by the majority of the UK population, we urge Edinburgh to build a very big and vary tall wall on its southern border that Hadrian would be proud of (ideally without waiting for Mexico, or the UK, to pay for it).
Meanwhile, as all this takes place, the UK ruling class is in a state of crisis, with both PM Cameron and Chancellor Osborne having disappeared, while the opposition Labour party is undergoing a real time coup attempt, in which as we reported yesterday, party leader Jeremy Corbin has been firing random MPs from the shadow cabinet, in an attempt to foil an ouster. For those eager to follow the drama live, the Telegraph has a good live blog at the following link: "EU referendum Labour crisis: Hilary Benn says Jeremy Corbyn 'is not a leader', after he is sacked over post-Brexit coup plot, as six shadow cabinet members quit and more expected to follow"
For those still confused, the following tweet by the Telegraph's Tim Stanley summarizes everything that has transpired in the past few days best:
Last 48 hrs have shown the public's doubts in the political class were well founded. PM & chancellor disappear. Labour self destructs.
— Tim Stanley (@timothy_stanley) June 26, 2016
Which perhaps explains why The Queen, speaking for the first time since the Brexit vote – ironically at the state opening of Scottish Parliament – told MSPs they should "remain calm and focused" and that they "should feel hope and optimism"… (as The Telegraph details)…
The monarch used her address at the opening of the fifth session of the Scottish Parliament to recommend to the UK’s political class that they allow “room for quiet thinking and contemplation” before they decide their next move.
Alluding to the political economic turmoil that has enveloped the country since the vote to Leave the European Union, she said that Britons “live and work in an increasingly complex and demanding world” with events and developments occurring at “remarkable speed”.
The Queen admitted that the ability to “stay calm and collected” in such circumstances can be “hard” but argued that a major hallmark of leadership is the ability to take a step back. She argued this would allow for a “deeper consideration of how challenges and opportunities can be best addressed."
The opening of the five-year parliament was a "time for hope and optimism", she added, with a "real sense of renewal" thanks to the large number of new members returned in May's Holyrood election.
Her call for a period of quiet contemplation, her first intervention on the Brexit vote since the shock result was announced eight days previously, suggests she does not approve of demands by Jeremy Corbyn and some European leaders for the UK to immediately invoke the Article 50 process to leave the EU.
But Ms Sturgeon defied the Queen's appeal not to rush to judgement by delivering a highly political speech in which she said Scotland should play a part in a "stronger Europe".
She concluded that the parliament should “look forward with hope and a shared determination” to work for the good of Scotland “and in doing so to play our part in a stronger Europe and a better world.”
via http://ift.tt/29mv1fK Tyler Durden