I will be voting to remain, and for a clear purpose. Much has been made of the issue of security and the role of European co-operation on ensuring peace between member states since the end of WW2; I’m in no doubt that while NATO has been at the forefront of our military security against external threats such as the former Soviet Union, it’s the evolution of the EU that’s been at the heart of the economic security that’s ensured peace between member states since 1945.
Economic stability built on shared history of conflict across our countries has allowed Scotland to gain investment and support for jobs. When the Tories were tearing our society apart over the last 4 decades, Scotland’s Councils would go to Brussels seeking support; it has been for us the Westminster By-Pass.
West Dunbartonshire should be in no doubt that the internal bickering of the Conservative Party is at the heart of this debate. Yet again we suffer polices from a government we did not vote for, a political party that has sought to destroy our society, tearing up social housing, forcing Housing associations to sell property and burdening generations with PFI debt. Scotland stands resolute in rejecting these polices, the SNP Government in Edinburgh is reinvigorating our social contract with one another, building social housing again and rejecting PFI. It’s supporting social democracy with community empowerment at its heart.
As to immigration, migrants bring a wealth of skill and money to Scotland, and with 2 million UK citizens living in the EU we are in no position to tell the rest of Europe about perceived burdens. Most migrants coming here work and pay into the tax system, unlike most Tory Grandees in the House of Commons and the unelected and unaccountable House of Lords with off shore accounts. The tactic of the Conservatives is to set working people in communities across Europe against one another, all the while the leave campaign sets to hinder what is left of Scotland’s manufacturing, from our struggling ship building industry to new innovative businesses growing in Scotland and accessing the largest single market in the world.
