Burgundy passports, dual citizenship and rejoining the EU were a few of the items at the top of Humza Yousaf’s fifth independence paper, published earlier today. The First Minister’s latest independence document in the ‘Building a New Scotland’ series outlines the Scottish government’s proposals for citizenship in an ‘open, inclusive’ and independent Scotland.
Holding a finger up to the UK government over post-Brexit changes, Yousaf’s paper describes how Scottish passports would be a ‘right’ available to Scottish citizens from day one of independence. In imitation of the old-style EU passports these would be burgundy in colour, not blue, and would follow EU regulations – despite the fact an independent Scotland would not automatically become a European Union member on breaking away from Britain.
There is no guarantee that an independent Scotland would be able to rejoin the EU, but the Scottish government’s proposal seems insistent that some kind of pre-Brexit, European Scotland is possible.
As far as citizenship is concerned, the Irish model is Yousaf’s guide. This would mean that even if you were not born nor a resident in Scotland but one of your parents was a citizen of the country, you would be automatically entitled to citizenship yourself. In fact, the criteria for becoming a Scottish citizen is relatively broad-ranging. If you’re an adult who has spent 10 years living in Scotland previously, you’re in too.
Living up to its ‘inclusive’ credentials, Yousaf’s proposals also take into account those British citizens that may find themselves in an independent Scotland but who do not want to receive Scottish citizenship. There will be an ‘opt out’ option available, primarily targeted at those people eligible to be a Scottish citizen but who are from a country that will not allow dual citizenship. The Scottish government has stated that it would be keen to ‘engage’ with these countries to discuss ‘removing barriers to dual nations acquiring Scottish citizenship if they wished it’. The SNP have also considered those unionists who may not be quite as enthusiastic about the prospect of Scottish citizenship. ‘Some people may not want [it],’ Yousaf told reporters today. ‘I would hope it would be a minority.’
Yousaf has also suggested a new visa category be created within the immigration system to help people from other countries ‘who have an enduring connection to Scotland’ to go and work there more easily. This route – which would be open to people from any country who have lived in Scotland for five years or who have family (a parent or grandparent) who are Scottish citizens – would pave the way for ‘settlement and naturalisation as a Scottish citizen’ in the future too.
A rather significant proportion of Yousaf’s proposal is taken up with discussion of the EU. After becoming independent – the paper states this as though it is a dead certainty – the Scottish government would ‘seek to rejoin the EU as soon as possible’. In 2016, only 38 per cent of Scots voted to leave the European Union, and it appears that the SNP government is basing the democratic will of the country off of this vote, given it has no apparent plans to hold another referendum on this. There is a little irony that this white paper refers to the fact Scots ‘voted overwhelmingly’ to stay in the EU in 2016, the government happy to respect the outcome of this referendum in Scotland – yet it doesn’t apply quite the same mindset to the 2014 Indyref result.
There is no guarantee that an independent Scotland would be able to rejoin the EU as a member state, but the Scottish government’s proposal seems insistent that some kind of pre-Brexit, European Scotland – with the overseas benefits that would bring, for example the removal of the 90-day visit limit in the Schengen region – is possible. At the very least, Yousaf’s plan argues that Scottish citizens would have access to the Common Travel Area, allowing free movement in the rest of the UK and Ireland.
While the document evidences that the Scottish government is becoming a little more focused on substance than simply spouting confusing independence strategies, the nostalgia of purple passport coverings hasn’t quite managed to quell fears that independence remains a fatal distraction for the government in a time of national crisis. Labour constitution spokesperson Neil Bibby, who has pointed to the rising costs of living and NHS chaos: ‘As always,’ he said, ‘the SNP-Green government is distracted by its constitutional obsession. Humza Yousaf is completely out of touch with Scotland’s priorities.’
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