Its unlikely at current as The Centrists are trying to distance themselves from the militant far-right by cutting ties with Civil Assistance and the Scottish Orange Lodge. Their main attitude is that they will prevent political violence "on both sides" and that the current parties have been too weak on paramilitaries. Although whether they'd actually crack down on CA should they ever get into power is debated.
"A Very British Transition" - A Post-Junta Britain TL
- Thread starter powerab
- Start date
Fascists and logic not mixing? Whatever next, a Catholic Pope?
Nigel, Katie and Priti Patel together.
Who said the far-right isn't diverse and inclusive.
Who said the far-right isn't diverse and inclusive.
That just goes to show how much Priti has assimilated...or something...
Scottish Independence Referendum 2018, Part 1
Harvie survived another confidence vote and passed a referendum bill as unionist MSPs walked out
“The government has accused the Scottish parliament of committing an “atrocity” by approving legislation on a referendum. The Scottish government insists that the results of the October vote will be binding. If successful, the regional government will declare independence from the UK 48 hours after the result is in. In a speech in London last May, Harvie said his government had a “inviolable” commitment to the referendum. A majority of Scots are in favour of a referendum, but polls suggest they are split on the issue of sovereignty. According to a poll at the end of July, 46% of Scots are against independence while 44% support it. But, a poll this week found that, were the referendum to go ahead, the yes campaign would take 75% of the vote on a turnout of 53%. The Scottish government has not set a threshold for turnout.” - Scotland to hold independence vote despite anger in Westminster, Sam Jones, The Guardian (2018)
A lot had happened in Scotland over the last few months, after Patrick Harvie’s first Government had collapsed snap elections had been called, with a RISE/SNP coalition supported by the Workers Party and UPA. The Scottish Government had spent the last few months tangled up in a legal battle with the Supreme Court and the British Senate. After a referendum bill had passed through St Andrew’s House, the Westminster Government had already moved to block it, dragging both London and Edinburgh into a constitutional melee. The court case itself had become a bit of a media circus with fiery arguments made on both sides, and both sides of the independence debate setting up permanent pickets outside the Senate and Supreme Court.
The Harvie Government knew it was fighting an uphill battle, the judiciary was the last UK bastion of Mountbattenism with right-wing judges appointed by Hill-Norton holding spaces on the bench. The Senate wasn’t much better, being made up of mostly English Senators the handful of seperatist senators were strongly outgunned in any debate and in the Senate’s Provinces and Communities committee, which led the debate, only one of the nine Committee Members were Scottish. The National Senators mostly used the debate as an opportunity to divide the UPA’s Senate Caucus, with the national party claiming to support the union, whilst its Scottish branch voted with the Harvie Government in favour of a referendum. Memes of Ribeiro-Addy’s “confusion” around the Scottish issue quickly made their way around conservative Twitter.
The Supreme Court was not a friend to Separatism
There was little surprise when the Senate declared the Referendum Bill to be outside the competency of the Scottish Government, this was swiftly followed by the Supreme Court suspending the Bill. Negotiations had reached their climax, it now fell to the two Governments to back down, or call for pistols at dawn. The Westminster Government for their part pressed the attack, with William Hague telling reporters the Senate’s decision confirmed a referendum would be an “intolerable act of disobedience”. Dominic Raab, the UK’s Federal Chief Prosecutor said the Ministry for Justice and the Home Office would press charges against anyone who assisted in the preparation of referendum logistics.
"The UK's state prosecutor’s says he will present criminal charges against MSPs who voted in favour of a referendum on independence. The regional parliament, adopted the so-called “referendum bill” with 46 votes in favour and 10 abstentions. 40 anti-referendum MSPs walked out of the vote in protest, with only the leftist UPA abstaining, although three of it's MSPs broke the whip to vote with the separatists. Prosecutor general Dominic Raab said he had asked security forces to investigate any referendum preparations. He said two different lawsuits are being prepared. One seeks to punish the MPs who allowed the debate and vote on the legal framework of the planned referendum. The other is planned against the executive branch of the regional government. " - UK to bring charges against Scottish parliamentarians, Al Jazeera (2018)
In a raucous meeting of the Scottish Parliament opposition parties called a vote of no-confidence against Patrick Harvie in a last-ditch effort to stop an independence referendum. Unionists hoped that pressure from the London leadership would pry the UPA out of Harvie’s coalition causing it to collapse. Much to the frustration of everyone, Mihrai Black ordered her MSP’ to abstain in Harvie’s confidence vote, allowing RISE to hold onto power by just four votes (three UPA MSPs broke the whip to vote with Harvie, with two later defecting to RISE). Neither side had backed down, as MSP’s walked out of St Andrew’s House Harvie gave his victory speech, officially ordering the Scottish Civil Service to make preparations for a referendum.
MSPs risked being martyrs for the cause
This didn’t stop the Scottish Government who reportedly began printing ballots and producing strongboxes. Across the nation small legal tugs of war broke out as the various local councils chose sides between the Edinburgh and Westminster Governments, with unionist controlled authorities locking away their ballot boxes. In the ultra-loyalist Orkney Council local officials literally threw their election supplies into the sea rather than see them seized by the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government also failed to gain access to the Electoral Roll, which was held independently by the Electoral Commission in London, forcing them to start a voter registration process from scratch.
Over the next few months over two million Scots would register to vote, or a little over 40% of the nation’s population. Pro-independence campaigners launched huge campaigns urging Scots to register to vote in the referendum, believing a turnout of over 50% would prove the referendum’s legitimacy. Of the 50 Scottish local Councils, just under 30 of them agreed to give logistical support to the referendum, almost all of them controlled by RISE or the SNP. This included the all important Councils of Edinburgh and Glasgow, the two cities alone being home to around a third of Scots. With the No campaign boycotting the referendum, the campaign quickly became a battle between activists and the police as Yes activists tried to hang up posters faster than the Civil Guard could tear them down.
“Police on Sunday seized 1.2 million pamphlets supporting Scotland's independence referendum. Scotland's pro-separatist government is determined to hold a referendum despite it being banned. The documents were seized at an advertising distribution company near Edinburgh, the Home Office said in a statement. Among the documents were about 700,000 leaflets promoting a “yes” vote in the referendum and 400,000 flyers with the logo of the Scottish government. Westminster has multiplied its efforts to crack down on the referendum, having threatened to arrest mayors who allow the vote. On Sunday, hundreds of people attended a meeting in London to show support for the referendum.” - Police seize referendum pamphlets, BBC News Bulletin (2018)
Westminster didn't fully trust Police Scotland, so English officers were bused north to fill the ranks
2018 Scottish Independence Referendum, Part 2
Polling stations turned in warzones as federal police tried to prevent the vote
“British riot police fired rubber bullets and seized ballot boxes from polling stations in Scotland on Sunday. As the vote opened, scenes of chaos erupted as police began moving in to prevent people from casting their ballots. Police forced their way into Glasgow University's sports centre where the region's separatist leader was due to vote. Scottish Vice-President Keith Brown said on Sunday afternoon that 242 people had visited hospital with injuries. So far 65 have been confirmed to be injured. Video footage appeared to show police firing rubber bullets and tear gas at the crowd outside the University. The Telegraph newspaper is reporting that a person has died due to an head injury believed to have been caused by a rubber bullet.” - Riot police in Scotland fire rubber bullets at crowd as they block voters at besieged polling stations, Sam Edwards, Reuters (2018)
Heavy handed action by the police only continued to stir tensions as the referendum campaign reached its zenith. The most violent day of the campaign would be in early August, where federal police raided a Glasgow concert by The Proclaimers, where several hundred activists including the Reid brothers themselves were arrested. 40,000 people would surround the concert hall in a flash mob preventing the police from leaving. Demonstrators destroyed Civil Guard vehicles and the Civil Guard agents were trapped in the hall overnight, not escaping until Glasgow police units arrived early in the morning. The whole affair was humiliating for the Civil Guard, having been so easily overwhelmed.
The Scottish branch of the FBU had been loyal supporters of independence
In the aftermath of the Proclaimers Incident Glasgow Police and Crime Commissioner Kim Long and Glasgow Police Commander Joseph Alexander were both arrested and charged with sedition, with Ministry of Justice officials accusing the pair of purposefully preventing local police from assisting the Civil Guard. A charge both denied, arguing they didn't have the time to prepare on the manpower to disperse such a large crowd. Several leading organisers of the protest also had the book thrown at them, with one 18 year old sent to prison for climbing on top of a police vehicle. All in all nearly a hundred people were charged for various offences at the concert, although the Reid brothers were released without charge.
Not trusting local police forces, especially in seperatist controlled councils, Westminster flooded Scotland with English soldiers and police officers, with 15,000 extra security personnel sent north of the border. Police continued to raid warehouses where ballot boxes and other election materials were held, leading to activists forming human chains around the warehouses. In some areas there protests would turn violent as police would violently clash with protests to try and gain entry. The most defining image of the campaign was off a British rifleman threatening an older lady holding a ballot box at gunpoint. The UK Government also used the power of tech giants like Google and Microsoft to shut down referendum websites. Most bizarre were clashes between the police and seperatist dominated firefighters corp, with firefighters in full uniform forming human shields around election workers.
Unionist paramilitaries set fire to polling stations in seperatist areas
“The fight between the Scottish and British authorities is expanding online. This week, an organisation managing how users find websites with the .scot extension was raided by the Civil Guard. The .scot domain is used by more than 80,000 websites promoting or showing information about Scotland. The website of the foundation running it shows the domains are intended to "raise the profile of the Scottish identity"." The list includes a fan club website for Celtic F.C. a weather website weather.scot, academic websites and local blogs. The authorities' move to target domains raises serious concerns with those trying to defend internet freedom. The technique is reminiscent of the days of the Junta where the government would often shut down parts of the internet and block or remove certain information.” - UK authorities try to shut down referendum websites, Maxime Schlee, Politico.EU
The night before the referendum was due to take place Worker’s Party Deputy Leader Aamer Anwar would be the first MSP to be arrested. Whilst the police had avoided targeting elected officials, fearful this would make them into martyrs, Anwar was taken into custody after speaking at an illegal conference on independence. Police also stormed polling stations in pro-independence local authorities, with the Scottish Government estimating 700,000 voters worth of ballots were seized by police the night before. At 6:30am on referendum day the Scottish Government announced they would be suspending rules on polling stations, allowing electors to vote anywhere, not just at their assigned polling station. President Harvie himself had to take advantage of this as his assigned polling station in Glasgow University had been destroyed by the police.
Four days after voting the official results were published, Patrick Harvie told the international press he intended to issue an official declaration of independence within a matter of weeks after consultations with the other parties in the Scottish Parliament. This was followed by the establishment bringing out the big guns, King Charles made an unprecedented direct political statement. In a Palace broadcast to the nation, His Majesty condemned the actions of the Scottish Government, calling the situation north of the border “extremely serious”. Lloyds bank announced it would be moving its regional headquarters out of Scotland due to fears of a unilateral independence declaration and even the Royal Bank of Scotland told shareholders it had contingency plans to move south. Ultimately the referendum had settled nothing.
“Two million Scots have braved the threat of a police boot in the face to demand independence within both the EU and the Eurozone. Scotland's claim to self-determination is strong – and should have been tested in a legal referendum. Instead, the whole crisis has been driven by Westminster’s attack on autonomy, itself driven by the need to impose austerity. It is tragic to see European centrism ready to dilute self-determination in the face of EU rules and economic rationality. Because progressive nationalism is not going away. From Barcelona to Athens, there was always a Scottish flag waving above the crowd. The “breakup” narratives of modern Europe are all driven by a central fact: the current settlement does not work.” - Speech by Patrick Harvie (2018)
Harvie promised a radical break from not just the UK order, but the EU troika order as well
Last edited:
Westminster made the same mistake as Spanish government during the Catalan crisis. Instead of letting the vote happen, followed by the declaration of the entire process until the unilateral declaration of independence as null and void. That would've made the Scottish government look like a bunch of idiots.
William Vague failed to utilise his strength of being vague.
William Vague failed to utilise his strength of being vague.
Worse, they made martyrs. You don't arrest tons of people over a fucking vote.
This is the British government we're talking about, their biggest exports are independence days and revolutionary martyrs.
Why would Google and Microsoft assist the British State in censoring Scottish Nationalists.
ITTL, wouldn't American sentiment be in favour of Scottish self-determination?
ITTL, wouldn't American sentiment be in favour of Scottish self-determination?
Minor political pressure at home vs being locked out of a entire country's marketplace?
Tough call, but the companise are gonna company.
On the tech companies as Knightmare says.
The official US State Department line is that it's an internal matter for the British Government, although Trump has tweeted a few times against independence. Among the general population those who care generally tend to lean pro-Scot.
Memories of when me and an 18 year old woman defended a polling station in Barcelona by holding up our British passports to a group of riot police and shouting 'international observers'. They saw us, drew back and decided to head to another polling station. Honestly one of the scariest moments of my life. I was only 24.
As a Catalan witness of the 1-O events, I must say that I feel some pity for the Scots.
I hope that Vague doesn't says something like "British and much British".
I hope that Vague doesn't says something like "British and much British".
Although this isn't cannon I like to ITTL Catalonia had a relatively peaceful referendum with all sides consenting