THE UK-wide vote for Brexit is a defining political moment of our age. As is Scotland’s far more emphatic, but thwarted, choice to Remain. But while headlines may dwell on the bald statistics, this is also a defining moment of a more subtle kind.
Scotland is presenting itself to the world with a heightened profile and sense of purpose.
Showing it rejects a narrow-minded retreat from the global stage; that it is a country moving forward with arms open, not shuffling and scowling backward with arms folded.
This week Nicola Sturgeon will spur on this self-definition process by hosting a special event for EU nationals in Scotland.
She first highlighted their predicament the morning the Brexit result came in.
“You remain welcome here, Scotland is your home and your contribution is valued,” she said.
It was a reminder that among the wreckage scattered by the Leave campaign are 173,000 EU nationals, thousands of them children, living in Scotland with uncertain futures.
Although there has thankfully not been the surge in reports of racism seen south of the border, these families must still live under the shadow of Brexit, wondering if they will soon be forced to leave their homes, jobs, schools and friends.
On Wednesday, the First Minister will hear some of their concerns first hand, and offer what comfort she and her cabinet can, promising to fight their corner through the Brexit process.
This is to be welcomed as a positive thing in its own right, as well as taken as another sign that Scotland’s divergence from the rest of the UK is now incontrovertible.
As we report today, there are also urgent economic reasons for Scotland to define itself anew.
A poll of thousands of EU citizens found an emerging backlash against the UK over Brexit.
More than a quarter of respondents said it had made them less likely to visit the UK on holiday, and around the same number were more reluctant to buy British goods and services.
With EU tourists spending more than £800bn a year in Scotland, and Scottish food and drink exports to Europe generating almost £2bn, those findings are a grave concern.
The First Minister’s message to EU citizens, both at home and abroad, that Scotland is different, that it is not the same as the rest of the UK, has never been more vital.
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