Beleaguered Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf will discuss the logistics of Scotland’s readmittance to the EU Monday, June 26th, as he embarks on a three-day visit to Brussels in order to lay the diplomatic groundwork for an independent Scotland.
This is the 38-year-old first minister’s first foreign visit since ascending to the leadership of both the Scottish National Party (SNP) and the ministerial office in March. Rejoining the EU was a key selling point for post-Brexit Scottish nationalism.
Yousaf is expected to help open a Scottish permanent envoy in Brussels to help lobby for Scottish independence after an announcement earlier this week.
Yousaf’s premiership has been under a dark cloud in recent weeks following the arrest of his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon and her husband who, earlier this month, were accused of misappropriating £600,000 worth of funds earmarked to campaign for Scottish independence. Sturgeon resigned in ambiguous circumstances in February amid rumours she was preparing to be implicated in the corruption probe.
The fallout has fueled claims from opponents that the SNP has created a rotten borough on account of the party’s control of the regional apparatus of the state in Scotland. Sturgeon’s return to the Scottish Parliament last week, maintaining her innocence, did little to abate scepticism.
Both the SNP and the cause of Scottish separatism have been severely crippled in the wake of the scandal, although Yousaf has tried in vain to distance himself from Sturgeon and her inner circle.
Yousaf served as Scotland’s Europe Minister between 2014 to 2016, and because of his prior government appointment, is no stranger to Brussels. Nevertheless, he clarified the purpose of this visit as essential to “trade, diplomatic and policy engagements.”
The SNP has capitalised—until now—on a clear 62% majority of Scots who voted to remain part of the EU in 2016. The party has labelled Brexit as an act of chauvinism by out-of-touch Westminster elites to the detriment of Scotland. Now it appears that the post-Brexit surge is turning into mud for the SNP.
Despite achieving political hegemony in Scotland following the 2014 independence referendum, the SNP is suffering its worst polling numbers in recent memory as it risks being overtaken by a resurgent British Labour Party.
The SNP has pivoted to a stridently Europhilic position since 2016, arguing that Brexit represented an act of “economic vandalism” against Scotland perpetuated by Tory Party elites, and that the Labour Party does not represent Scottish national interests.
Speaking at an SNP conference in Dundee over the weekend, Yousaf reiterated his commitment to securing a second referendum on the matter as he attempts to turn the next British general election in Scotland into a precursor for a second independence vote.
The issue of Scottish independence is an awkward subject even within the EU as the Spanish government is expected to frustrate any attempt by Scotland to rejoin the EU on the grounds of emboldening Catalan separatists.
The SNP has been severely criticised for advocating rejoining the EU while still using the British pound sterling. Financial experts attacked their plans as unrealistic if not outright impossible.
Despite arriving as the leader of one of Europe’s most pro-EU parties, Yousaf walks a political tightrope as he arrives in Brussels, battling domestic scandals and the political complications of Scottish independence abroad.
