With one tweet, this Tory MP accidentally makes the case for Scottish Independence

Andrew Bowie MP official portrait
Support us and go ad-free

On 21 September, the Scottish Conservative and Unionist MP Andrew Bowie took to Twitter to expose the undemocratic ‘truth’ of the European Union. In doing so, he accidentally made the case for Scottish Independence. But that was not his only faux pas.

He attempted to point out that the larger member states of the EU had ‘overruled‘ Poland, Sweden, Hungary, Denmark and the Netherlands:

However, it seems Bowie didn’t see the connection to Scotland’s wishes being ‘overruled‘ in relation to the Brexit vote.

Read on...

SNP MP Stewart McDonald illustrated this point perfectly:

Bowie is going to need an ice pack for that burn.

The Scottish government and Brexit

Scotland backed a Remain vote in the EU referendum in June 2016. The UK voted to Leave; with nearly 52% of voters backing an exit from the EU. However, every council area in Scotland voted to stay in the EU and the overall result was 62% in support of Remain. Since the EU referendum, the SNP-led Scottish Government has been preparing for another vote on Scottish Independence.

Scottish first minister and leader of the SNP Nicola Sturgeon states she has a mandate to hold another vote on independence when the outcome of Brexit is known.

As Politico reported, Sturgeon said prior to the EU referendum:

It would be a very serious mistake for the U.K. to vote to leave the European Union, and I think it would be democratically indefensible for Scotland, if we had voted to stay in, to face the prospect of being taken out.

Since the EU referendum, the Scottish government and UK government have had a “series of clashes”. This included the Scottish parliament rejecting the EU Withdrawal Bill. So many “clashes” have taken place that the constitutional affairs committee at Westminster supports a “devolution policy for the union” to address ambiguities.

Bowie might be misleading his followers

Bowie did attempt to drum up support against the EU project.

However, he was challenged on claiming the Netherlands were “supportive of [the] UK Govt”:

Another voter also stepped forward to provide a link to an article quoting the Dutch prime minister not supporting the Chequers deal:

As reported by Dutch News, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said:

I am still confident that we can come to an agreement this year and the Chequers proposal is helpful, but it is not the outcome.

For Bowie, this is all rather unfortunate as his tweet is being torn apart.

This Tory MP seems to be a future advocate for Scottish Independence. However, if he wants to help out in the Yes campaign perhaps he should avoid its social media marketing department.

Get Involved!

– Join The Canary, so we can keep holding the powerful to account.

Featured Image via Chris McAndrew – Wikimedia Commons

We know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support

The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.

The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.

So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.

Support us

Comments are closed