【每日英语听读（23）】苏格兰独立｜词汇梳理（双语注释）｜原版音频

Scotland’s independence movement suffers a setback at the Supreme Court One route to an independence referendum is blocked. Nicola Sturgeon seeks another

Nov 23rd 2022

“It’s up to this place now,” said Finlay Royle, gesturing towards the Houses of Parliament. He was leading a demonstration, clutching Saltires and eu flags, outside the Supreme Court on November 23rd. Mr Royle seemed rather chirpy for one whose campaign had just been dealt a blow; but breaking up a country is not for the faint of heart.

芬利•罗伊尔指着议会大厦的方向说： “ 现在就看这个地方了。” 11 月 23 日，他正在（英国）最高法院外领导示威，手里拿着苏格兰旗和欧盟旗帜。考虑到他领导的群众运动刚刚遭受打击，罗伊尔先生心情好得不可思议。但玻璃心的人无法领导独立运动。

Hours earlier, Lord Reed of Allermuir, the president of the court and a Scot, had delivered a judgment that reshapes Britain’s constitution. The Scottish government had asked whether the devolved parliament in Edinburgh has the power to legislate for a new referendum on independence without the agreement of the Westminster Parliament. It does not, said Lord Reed. The court could have ducked the issue; the “boldness and clarity” of its decision was a surprise, says Richard Parry of the University of Edinburgh.

几小时前，英国最高法院院长、苏格兰人里德勋爵 (Lord Reed of Allermuir) 作出 了一项判决。这一判决将重塑英国宪法。苏格兰政府曾询问爱丁堡权利下放议会是否有权在未经英国议会同意的情况下为新的独立公投立法。里德勋爵表示 （ 爱丁堡议会）并没有这项权利。爱丁堡大学的理查德 · 帕里表示最高法院原本可以回避这个问题，但其 “ 大胆和清晰”的回复令人吃惊。 

The Scottish government had argued that a referendum would have no immediate legal effect, and would therefore be within its remit. Yet Lord Reed and his four colleagues unanimously decided that it would have a significant political effect by helping to undermine the union—that was the point, after all. It was therefore beyond the Scottish Parliament’s limited scope. They brushed aside a submission from the Scottish National Party (SNP) claiming a right to self-determination under international law. Such concepts apply to colonies and to victims of foreign military rule, not to Scots, the judges said. An artful ambiguity has been ripped from the constitution. It is now beyond doubt that Scotland cannot unilaterally leave the union. It takes two to divorce. 

苏格兰政府辩称，公投并不会产生直接法律效果，因此组织全民公决应在其职 权范围内。 然而，里德勋爵和他的四位同事一致认为，这将产生重大的政治影响，将破坏英国的团结。而这也是关键点。因此， 组织全民公决超出了苏格兰议会有限的权限范围。英国最高法院对苏格兰民族党（ SNP ） 声称根据国际法 享有自决权的意见不屑一顾。法官们说，这种概念仅适用于殖民地和外国军事 统治的受害者， 而不适用于苏格兰人。英国宪法中已经剔除了关于苏格兰独立问题的模糊性。现在毫无疑问的是，苏格兰不能单方面脱离联邦，其独立必须得到英国的批准。 

This blocks the road for Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister and leader of the SNP , at least for a while. She wanted to hold a referendum on October 19th, 2023—a fresh shot at separation after Scots voted in a referendum in 2014 to stay in the United Kingdom. But she insists that to be credible it must be lawful. She is unable to organise one herself; the British government won’t organise one for her. Her strategy now is to denounce the United Kingdom as a prison. “This ruling confirms that the notion of the UK as a voluntary partnership of nations is no longer,” said Ms Sturgeon. The next British general election, expected in 2024, will be a “de facto” referendum on independence, she said. 

这至少在一段时间内堵住了苏格兰第一部长兼苏格兰民族党领袖尼古拉•斯特金的路。斯特金想在2023 年10 月19日举行公投，这将是自苏格兰人在2014 年公投中决定留在英国后对苏格兰独立的新尝试。但她坚持认为，要想成功组 织公投必须得到（英国）法律支持。她无法自己组织公投，英国政府也不会为她组织公投。她现在谴责英国是一个监狱。斯特金说：" 这项裁决证实了大不列 颠及北爱尔兰联合王国作为国家间自愿合作关系的概念已经不复存在。她表示2024年举行的下一次英国大选将是一次“事实上的”独立公投。

Quite what that means is unclear. The SNP will decide how to proceed at a special party meeting in the new year. Trying to turn an election into a referendum looks like a gambit to hold together a nationalist movement that has been pushing Ms Sturgeon to deliver results and is running out of patience: one more election, one last heave. This is a high-risk strategy. Scotland’s other parties are free to ignore Ms Sturgeon and say that the election is really about the economy, health care or the upkeep of the pavements. The SNP has failed to stir more than half of Scots to support independence and only 39% of Scots think a general election could serve as a proxy referendum, according to Ipsos, a pollster. Ms Sturgeon’s denunciations of Britain’s democratic deficit will fire up her base. But they will probably do little to widen support for independence among undecided Scots who are wary of its costs. 

我们还不清楚这意味着什么。苏格兰民族党将在新一年的特别党务会议上决定 如何推进计划。试图将选举变成公投的行为看起来像是一种赌博， 目的是团结 起民族主义运动。这一运动一直在帮助斯特金成功但现在已然失去耐心。再来一次选举，进行最后一次冲刺。 这是一个高风险策略。 苏格兰其他政党可以无 视斯特金女士，说选举更应该关注经济、医疗保健或人行道的维护。据民调机构 Ipsos 称，苏格兰民族党未能使半数以上苏格兰人支持独立。只有39% 的苏格兰人认为大选可以作为代理公投。斯特金女士对英国民主赤字的谴责将动摇她的基本盘。但是，它们可能对争取更多对于苏格兰独立的支持没有什么作用，因为许多苏格兰人担忧独立的代价。 

In principle, the Supreme Court’s decision gives the British government the legal cover to pursue a hard unionist strategy, declaring independence to be impossible forever. That would be unwise. Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, so far appears to be pursuing a softly-softly approach, stressing co-operation.

 原则上，最高法院的裁决为英国政府提供了法律保障，使其可以强硬地维护联合王国的统一，并宣布苏格兰永远不可能独立。但这是不明智的。到目前为止，苏纳克（现任英国首相）似乎在追求一种软中带硬的方法，强调合作。 

Yet regardless of what the court ruled, the nationalist movement is more dependent on the British government than it likes to admit. “Any viable path to independence depends on co-operation between the Scottish and UK governments at every stage,” remarked Anthony Salamone, a Scottish political analyst, in a recent lecture. Treaties would need to be written; assets and debts divided; border posts built; nuclear submarines moved. It would be a titanic joint endeavour, in which the British government would hold many of the cards. Getting a referendum has become a distant prospect, and it is just the start. 

然而，无论法院的裁决如何，民族主义运动对英国政府的依赖程度都比它愿意承认的要高。苏格兰政治分析家 Anthony Salamone 在最近的一次演讲中说：“任何可行的独立道路都取决于苏格兰和英国政府在每个阶段的合作。” 他们需要制定条约，分割资产和债务，建造边境哨所和调动核动力潜艇。这将是一项巨大的联合行动，英国政府将在其中掌握许多筹码。苏格兰独立公投已经变得遥遥无期，而这仅仅只是个开始。