The streets were half empty in Edinburgh on Thursday, where the traditional New Year’s Eve party “Hogemanay” was canceled due to lockdown and Scots are concerned about Brexit in 2021, although many of them hope it will give new impetus to the independence process.
The Royal Mile shopping street, with typical Scottish products such as whiskey or tartan on the windows, was half deserted and covered in snow.
The few passers-by expressed concern about the peak of Brexit on Thursday at 11 p.m. GMT.
“It is really sad to leave the European Union, but when it is over we will have to restart the independence process,” said Zoe Stewaert, who voted to stay in the EU in 2016, as did 62% of Scots. .
Scottish prime minister, pro-independence Nicola Sturgeon, believes Brexit could be an opportunity to increase support in favor of secession.
The Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), Sturgeon’s party, is the firm favorite for the local elections in May 2021 and insists on organizing a second referendum on self-determination, following the ‘no’ to independence won in the consultation . held in 2014.
A big win for the SNP in the upcoming elections would add to pressure on London to accept a second referendum, which they have already called “indyref2”.
However, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is strongly opposed to this second vote, although his refusal could lead to a political crisis in Scotland.
2021, a decisive year? –
According to a recent Savanta ComRes poll for the Scotsman newspaper, 58% of Scots are in favor of a break with the UK, which showed a particularly high level of support for independence.
“It is very difficult to detect a trend as it varies. In the first half of 2020 it was 50 to 50. But during the second half (the secessionists) they exceeded 50% and reached 59%” , especially for managing the Covid-19 crisis, explains Nicola McEwan, professor of political science at the University of Edinburgh.
Sturgeon, with a high degree of popularity, benefited from his handling of the pandemic, which was much more highly regarded by the public than Johnson’s erratic performance during the health crisis.
Mike Blackshaw has already been campaigning for secession from his “Yes Cafe”, adorned with a portrait of the Prime Minister and where Edinburgh’s pro-independence militants often meet.
The shirts and pins are already prepared, as well as a new independence flag, which mixes the colors of the Scottish flag with those of the EU.
“The year 2021 will be a defining year for the independence movement,” said Mike Blackshaw, hopefully, who has been campaigning for secession for decades.
Blackshaw, with a long white beard, is clear about his desire for the “first jog,” a Scottish tradition that says the symbolic first step after midnight brings good luck: “A referendum in September, win it and then I can live in peace . “.