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Val McDermid: Scotland ‘deserves’ a second independence vote
VAL McDermid has said Scotland “deserves” a second independence referendum.
The best-selling crime writter made the comments in a piece for The Times Magazine where she detailed “a life in the day”.
As well as her daily routine, the best pieces of advice she’s been given and her writing schedule, the Edinburgh-based author detailed why she believes a second referendum should be imminent.
The writer also said that she hopes “this time” Scots will back independence.
READ MORE: Brexit: Thousands of EU citizens face losing benefits
McDermid also said that Brexit has “not been helpful” to the Unionist cause and made a jibe at Tory plans to send Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge to Scotland as royal ambassadors.
McDermid said: “There’s much talk right now about whether Scotland will get a second referendum. I think we deserve one and hope this time we’ll vote for independence.
“At least 50 per cent of people in the country feel very strongly that this is what they want.
“Brexit has not been helpful to the cause of the Union, and we find ourselves laughing out loud at the notion of sending Prince William and his wife up to Scotland as royal ambassadors.
“We only have to look at the antics of politicians in Westminster to be just disgusted.
“A couple of royals swanning about won’t change that.”
McDermid also said that she never wrote with the intent of success that she has, and that “success was a happy surprise”.
We previously told how McDermid was one of thousands of authors to sign a letter calling on the UK Government to rethink a copyright law change that would have a “devastating” impact on writers.
READ MORE: Copyright law change would be ‘devastating’ to authors
More than 2600 authors signed an open letter to Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng urging him not to weaken copyright law – which would allow foreign editions of books to be sold in the UK.
The UK, before Brexit, was formerly part of the EU’s copyright agreement which allowed books to be sold freely in Europe.
However, with the Intellectual Property Office (IPC) opening a consultation on the UK’s “copyright exhaustion” rules last month, authors warned that adopting an international regime would allow cheap books to flood the UK market.
Backers of the move said it would make books cheaper - but authors including McDermid warned it would impact earnings and the industry would be “only accessible to the wealthy”.
McDermid’s latest novel 1979 is due to be released on August 19 for £20.