Another Europe Is Possible has sent this open letter to candidates in the SNP leadership election.
Dear SNP leadership candidates,
The resignation of Nicola Sturgeon was a huge moment of change, not only for Scotland, but for the other nations of the UK.
She is rightly regarded as the most formidable politician of her generation – and, above all, a true progressive.
From Europe, to trans rights, migration, progressive taxation and much more besides, she has championed the causes, groups and issues that the UK government has ignored, derided or even vilified.
That’s why across the UK – including among supporters of the Union – she has won huge and enduring respect.
Now, as campaigners spread across the four nations of the UK, we have two questions for you as a prospective leader of Scotland and of the UK’s third largest political party:
1. Will you commit to keeping Scotland on its progressive journey, continuing to champion LGBT+ rights, the principle of an open and welcoming migration policy and the defence of the human rights and equalities agenda in Scotland and across the UK, including continuing to support Scotland’s pathbreaking Gender Recognition Act?
2. Without at all precluding your right to continue to campaign for Scottish independence as a route to re-joining the EU, or to campaign for a similar deal for Scotland to the Windsor agreement for Northern Ireland; are you willing to combine this with supporting UK-wide campaigning efforts and initiatives for re-joining the EU? Will the SNP under your leadership actively support re-joining the EU in the upcoming Westminster general elections?
While we oppose Westminster’s decision to deny the Scottish people a new vote on independence (given the clear mandate for this from the last Holyrood elections), we would also like to work with you and likeminded Scottish parties and movements on UK-wide activity to restore the single market and, ultimately, EU membership of all four nations.
As the rest of the UK slowly comes to adopt the view that the majority in Scotland and Northern Ireland have always known – that Brexit is a failed con – we are certain that Scotland will play a leading role in putting the four nations back on a path to Europe.
Signed by-
Graham Campbell
Alena Ivanova
… and 650 members and supporters of Another Europe Is Possible (this list includes only those who gave permission through the ‘tick box’ for their name to be displayed publicly):
- Gavin Edwards
- Luke Cooper
- Lorraine Mccoll
- John Kay
- Graham Jeffery
- Mandy Merck
- Sue Rule
- Denis Buckley
- John Murray
- Martin Housden
- Pat Devine
- Phil Tomlin
- Andy Wilson
- Judith King
- Dr V J Griffiths
- Carl Butcher
- Marianne Butcher
- Graeme Stuttaford
- Martin Archer
- Daniel Key
- Alan Gilchrist
- Diana Morgan
- Paul Grover
- William Glyn Thomas
- Michael Lyons
- Tarquin Grossman
- John Porter
- Elaine Matuszewski
- Richard Hart
- Bob Smith
- Paul Philo
- Carolyn Phillippo
- Jean Bartrum
- Jo Brown
- John Palmer
- michelle everson
- Lee Rose-Parsfield
- Natacha Kennedy
- Dave Finch
- Christine Robinson
- Edward Marks
- David Coulthread
- Bruce Newton
- Chris Jefferies
- Pushon Bhattacharya
- Christopher Sparey-Green
- Sacha Kester
- Chris Bright
- Sarah Jones
- Angie Smith
- James Catmur
- Lesley Kettlewell
- Carol Wandt
- Christine Smith
- Pete Marsh
- Sabine Ebert-Forbes
- Vivian Willis
- Chris Dommett
- Jennifer Reznick
- Gordon Daffern
- Elizabeth Slater
- Joanna Drayton
- John Williams
- Alison Clarke
- Martin Huxley
- Fraser Britton
- Roger Wells
- Margaret Brown
- Helen Kalliope Smith
- Carol Law
- Dick Bower
- Stephen Armstrong
- Felicity Taylor
- Philip Watson
- Janet Patience
- Keith Lloyd
- Sally Brooks
- Peter Brimson
- Hilary Ruston
- John Barber
- Glyn Hambrook
- Ruth Klassen Green
- Martin Horan
- Graham Martin
- Rowena Foote
- Peter Cuthbert
- Dick Hunter
- Judith Walker
- Heidy Kempe-Bottcher
- Richard Harman
- Steve Rouse
- Colin Oakley
- Ken Roberts
- Achsa Griffiths
- Erif Rison
- Minifie Robert
- Marcus Clark
- Shaun Coster
- Michael Shaw
- Steve Brown
- Eleonore Kofman
- Nigel Topley
- Rosemary Mackenzie
- Norman Whitby
- James Mercer
- Ian Boreham
- Alison Jinks
- Claire Hamilton Russell
- Christine McDermott
- John Evans
- John Clutterbuck
- Esther Ruperez
- David Frier
- Gwen McLeod
- Peter Smith
- Liz Meynell
- Lee Thornhill
- Paul Burgess
- Nicholas Dakin
- Karen Yeoman
- Philip and Ross Luckham-Bulmer
- Jessica Jones
- Hilary Minor
- Mike Yeadon
- Chris Barker
- Ruth Riegler
- Simon Ellis
- Andrea Greenfield
- David Pallant
- Anthony Dunsdon
- Victoria Lee
- Jacqueline Levin
- John Allford
- Cam Hamilton
- Steve Butcher
- Tim Gleaves
- Deborah Fyrth
- Derek Wilcox
- Clare Mckendrick
- Melanie Howell
- Steven Shepherd
- Robert proctor
- Valerie St Hill
- Alec Connah
- Carol Hudson
- Lucy Howson
- Yvonne Auger
- Eileen Evans
- Graham Southall
- Elspeth Rankine
- Virginia Lee
- Steve Noel
- Julia McDonald
- Eric Chipulina
- Samantha Ballington
- Susan Hayward
- mark tiernan
- Lee Haviland
- Sheila Tyler
- Paul Reddy
- Francine Grant
- Clive Lindley-Jones
- Patrick Driscall
- Regina DeGiovanni
- Sarah Early
- Jim Brookes
- Dinah Barry
- Ann Jean Swift
- Gill Fernley
- The Revd Br & Mrs GJHHBM van der Weegen
- Frances Kay
- Laurence Howells
- Gavin Jones
- Alastair Stone
- Anne Moir
- sarah uppard
- Judith Cooke
- Annabelle Shaw
- Val Kyle
- Paul Knox
- Stephen Suddens
- Mark Eden
- Jan Williams
- Graham Smillie
- Hilary Kerr
- Herach Ignatian
- James Ross
- Ian Storey
- Brian Cantrill
- Stephen Midgley
- Jennifer Downes
- Jane Wheeler
- Melinda Crook
- John Garrett
- Peter Sadler
- Rosalind Cooke
- Juha-Matti Vuorinen
- Paul Wilson
- Margaret Westbrook
- David Platt
- Lynne Thomson
- David Southcombe
- Mike Rowley
- Annasara Citterico
- Doug Doherty
- Annette McMichael
- Andrea Brown
- Angela Hallam
- Andrew Wright
- Chris Allard
- John Minson
- Gwendoline Highet
- Martin Clayton
- Jean Boxall
- Mike Young
- James Barling
- Robert McGovern
- Diane Robinson
- Alex Buckley
- Susan Mosedale
- Florian Kobisch
- Peter Tatchell
- Jenny Powell
- Helen Coulson
- Dave Evans
- Janet Davies
- Maggie Wilson
- Mary Morris
- Adrian Sargood
- Patrick Newman
- Peter Oldham
- James Geraghty
- Miranda Williams
- Michele Sneddon
- Matt Carlson
- Susan Andrews
- Jacqueline Marshall
- Philippa Greenslade
- Ian Woolcomb
- Phil Braceys
- Myles Cook
- Neil McCart
- Karen Tuck
- Julie Stewart
- Giuseppe Turi
- Glenn Martin
- Annie Simon
- Yvonne Coyne
- Maria McKenzie
- Eunice Wormald
- Eleanor Harrison
- Sarah Moliver I
- Jenny Macdonald
- Stephen Lee
- John England
- George Nicholson
- Beth Nicol
- Angela Daly
- Erik Nolander
- Wouter Servaas
- Elizabeth Kay
- Kenneth Barnsley
- Ronald King
- Celia Dyball
- Marye Smith
- Peter Halsall
- Kirsten Forkert
- James Newell
- Simon Carruth
- Jennifer Anderson
- Linda Goldsmith
- John Stigar
- Alan Robinson
- Glynis Horvath
- Adrian Smith
- Margaret Green
- Daren Halkyard
- Manon Edwards
- Louise Taylor
- Neville Jones
- Graham Suddick
- Tim Shelton-Jones
- Andy Battersby
- Richard Neill
- Claire Francis
- Annick Cassidy
- Hugh McMichael
- Gregg Ferguson
- Richrd Boyle
- Francois Duran
- Peter King
- Patrick Benson
- John Handford
- Gabriel Craddock
- Alexander Howe
- Phil Fern
- John Dunworth
- John Phillips
- Bridget Penhale
- Gail McCallum
- Katie Hill
- David Whitton
- Lynda Smith
- Rosalind Herbert
- Rodney Chainey
- Pamela Staley
- Gwen Davies
- Alan Gasparutti
- Angus White
- David Taffs
- Diane Rivero-Wain
- Mary O’Shea
- christine burgess
- Rose Murphy
- Tim Beecher
- Corry Cashman
- Jennifer Johnson
- Rosamund Derry
- Laurence Harger
- Martin Bradshaw
- Stephen Davis
- Thomas Perard
- George Rowe
- Rosanna Rabaeijs
- Jacqueline Croker
- Lesley Knaggs
- Eilidh Hodge
- Pauline McGovern
- Ellen Ritter
- Derek Germon
- Louise McIntosh
- Kate Kendall
- Maggie Wilcox
- David Ferrard
- Steve Boyd
- Richard Mowbray
- James Nye
- Gerald McGrath
- Steve Caubergh
- Helen Shipley
- Darren Caudle
- Ken Watkins
- Susan Garth
- Michael Donovan
- Patricia Zecevic
- Shirley Montgomery
- Norman Wright
- Catherine Rolland
- David Wells
- Alison Hough
- Colin Shepherd
- Robert Downing
- Helen Glassford
- David Athron
- Ian Morton
- Bridget Carrington
- Tessa Caley
- Jasminder Singh Grewal
- Tony Walsh
- Patricia Glackin
- Alan Seeney
- Judith Reynolds
- Moran Watson
- Jean Caffery
- Ivor Thomas
- Lee Saunders
- Christopher Oxford
- Elizabeth Webb
- stephen Holroyd
- Tina Eberle
- Susan Phillips
- Alfred Gliddon
- Jeremy Bartlett
- Diane Parker
- Simon De Cogan
- Richard Hyde
- Mark Morgan
- Frances Stanfield
- Mike Taylor
- David Collins
- Ron Pratt
- Cait Ni Cadlaig
- Kevin Wright
- Martin Palmer
- Susan Jones
- Rachel Hope
- Ilya Masoliver
- Joseph O’Toole
- Alban Daniel
- Camilla Ween
- Tshiama Nambombe
- Gren Matta
- Jenefer Lowe
- Joe Mahtani
- John Bacon
- Christine Ogden
- Roy Seaman
- Leslie Johnson
- Joseph Johnson
- Susan Hughes
- Andreire Hurst
- Shirley Swan
- Christopher Goodwin
- Clare Scanlan
- Stephen Dickinson
- Tricia Dawson
- Lewis Jones
- Mhairi Potts
- Maureen Potter
- John Hutchinson
- Charles Sage
- Kevin Donaldson
- Ann McDonald
- David Smith
- Sheila Lowson
- Robin Draper
- Michael Cluer
- Elizabeth Smith
- Peter Saunders
- Matt Voß
- Daniel McCormick
- Dr. Fred Knaggs
- Casey Hunter
- Peter Morrow
- Mark Holman
- Irene Ferguson
- James Dickins
- Marlyn Leese
- Jane Zurek
- Bernard Kay
- Jamie McLuckie
- Patrick Ainley
- Deirdre Smyth
- Philip Creed
- Caroline Cattermole
- Clive Semmens
- Chris Cumberpatch
- Pip Tindall
- Jef Smith
- John Price
- Peter Owens
- Karen Cattell
- Marion Weston
- Colin Brazier
- Linda Foster
- Richard Langworthy
- Martyn Rose
- Anthony Platts
- Richard Zheng
- Pat Bullen Whatling
- Stella Wood
- Ronnie Eckford
- Josephine Downs
- David Harrison
- Jane Staffieri
- Neil Scott
- Sandro Montagner
- Chris Mitchell
- Melanie Menard
- Moyra Jean
- Alan Meston
- Mickael Girau
- Susan Penny
- Stuart McLeod
- Ellie Sedgwicj
- Nigel Armstrong
- Ellen Garner
- Jens Geffert
- David Powell
- Paul Edwards
- Fiona Wishlade
- Mervyn Attwood
- Karen Campbell
- Dana Cromie
- Erica Levy
- Carole Morgan
- David West
- Terry Walker
- Jo Wyatt
- Angela Royston
- Lesley Paterson
- Susan O’Hare
- Roxane Nash
- Clare Towle
- Catherine Lynch
- Sarah Hill
- Sandi Harris
- Casey Hunter
- Victoria Symonds
- David Stephens
- Brian Simpson
- Andrew Morrison
- Chris Dale
- Simone Coates
- Roderick Joyce
- Allan Nicholl
- Roger Bromley
- Howard Lane
- Wendy Tighe
- Phiip Cole
- John Hodges
- Suki Jones
- Jennifer Wilson
- Stephen Harvey
- Victoria
- Hilary Bennett
- Jeremy Lynton
- Catherine Iles
- Tony Chapman
- Julie Milton
- Chris Caswill
- Michael Holland
- Matthew Howe
- Peter Howe
- Anne Wyatt
- Eleanor Bell
- Tom Bennett
- John Gordon
- John Tomkinson
- Polly Eltes
- Richard Moore
- Joan Stewart
- Nigel Hay
- Ann Dawson
- Diane Redhead
- Ricky Knight
- Michele Beers
- Richard Duployen
- John Bell
- Diane Margolis
- Graham Southall
- Chris Ward
- Robbie Cargill
- Cindy Lee
- Peter Wellington
- Glyn Ford
- Claudia Karl
- Nicky Bashall
- Heather Briggs
- Laura Phelan
- Mitzi Walbank
- David Martin
- Liz Broumley
- Barbara Lamplugh
- Josephine Humphrey
- Frank Brookes
- George Marshall
- Denise Pepler
- Alex Bailey
- Angus Whyte
- Marianne ten Kate
- Philip Gardner
- Mark Mcmanus
- Chris Kitcher
- Julieanne Long
- Angela Singleton
- Shaun Newitt
- Martin Murphy
- Sylvia Willmot
- Anthony James
- Lydia Muldoon
- Wyn Jeffery
- Valerie Stokes
- Paul Fulton
- Martin & Jan Foster
- Ruthi Brandt
- Joseph Healy
- Rachel Boulton
- Andy King
- Boo Bennett
- Bob Maltz
- Malcolm Ashmore
- Rebekah Gronowski
- Casey Hunter
- David Salt
- W Adam
- Tracey Cunningham
- Susan Toye
- Maureen Benson
- Richard Hope
- Chris Sissons
- Silvia Fabbri
- Maxine Fearn
- Eilidh Renwick
- William Jewell
- Rebecca Pillinger
- Dorrie Fraser
- Reuben Lane
- Patricia Reilly
- Will Pinfold
- Graeme Barton
- Ian Hamilton
- Christie Elan-Cane
- Catriona Whitton
- Lorna Hicks
- Renate Aspden
- Mike Moore
- Clive Wilkes
- Robert McKenzie
- Stephen Rawles
- Guenther Uher
- Ian McLaren
- Sandra Dudley
- Michael Hopkins
- Stephen Green
- Sue Phillips
- Roger Distill
- Christine Simpkin
- Louise Matthews
- Andrew Bain
- Linda Keir
- L Crookes
- Connor Lewis Smith
- Graham Richads
- Garry Sutherland
- Christine Donegan
- Jane Andrew
- Gaye Hicyilmaz
- Susie Boyd
- Jamie Taylor
- Lewis Bell
- Lorna Judge
- David Thomas
- Debbie Bruce
- Callum Macleod
- David Mccue
- James Campbell
- Sarah Cheung
- Kwee Matheson
- Jan Cliff
- Edith Robson
- Matthew Elliott
- Glenys Gill
- Marc De Berner
- Michelle Chapman-Wells
- Roberto F
- Lee Martin
- Penny Mitchell
- Andrew Pearce
- Joy Garstang
- Yvonne Forsey
- Bahauddeen Latif
- Angela McRae
- Faith Kenrick
- Elaine Tait
- Emma Hutton
- Barry Thomson
- Jacqueline van Hooft
- Carole Armstrong
- Linda Booker
14th March 2023