Referendum Games: Nicola Sturgeon is not being straight with Scotland

Nicola Sturgeon, first minister of Scotland announced today to an SNP gathering that she would publish "for consultation" a bill proposing a second Scottish Independence referendum. The first thing to understand about this is that she is playing a disingenuous game aimed partly at keeping her own supporters happy but mostly designed to hold a sword of Damocles over the UK government's head during the Brexit negotiations.



The latest opinion poll on what the people of Scotland think about the idea of a second Independence Referendum came from BMG and had support on 38% and opposition on 47% - a nine point lead against the SNP which is about what happened in the 2014 Referendum.

There is not a cat in hell's chance that Nicola Sturgeon would actually call a second independence referendum while the polls are showing anything like this.

Of course, she may not get the chance. Earlier this year the SNP lost their absolute majority in the Scottish parliament.

No, this bill is a cynical trick to keep her own troops happy and to provide her with a threat which she can hold over the UK government during forthcoming negotiations and discussions.

Comments

Jim said…
how is it?

how is it a threat? if she held a referendum tomorrow, and won it (look i know thats not possible, this is hypothetical, if she could and did)

Q- what would happen?

A- Scotland would no longer be a part of the current member state of the EU (the UK) so would be both out of the UK and out of the EU in the worst possible way.


So where exactly is her dagger?
7:56 pm
Jim said…
To be totally honest with you, if that is honestly the First Ministers attempt at "preserving the best interests of Scotland" then it would be far better for the people of Scotland if she just out right declared war on it, they would certainly be safer.
8:02 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
I agree with your second post.

The threat is that she knows Theresa May really does not want another Indyref, so she wants to be able to say "give me this or I'll call another independence referendum."

Of course, Theresa May could well decide, or be forced, to call that bluff ...

11:44 pm
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nick Herbert on his visit to flood hit areas of Cumbria

Please note that the post below was published more than ten year ago on 21st November 2009 Nick Herbert MP, shadow cabinet member for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, was in Cumbria this morning to see the areas affected by the flooding. He writes on Conservative Home about his visit. Here is an extract. I’ve been in Cumbria today to see the areas affected by the floods. I arrived early in Keswick where I met officials from the Environment Agency. Although the river levels had fallen considerably and homes were no longer flooded, the damage to homes had been done. And the water which had got into houses wasn’t just from the river – it was foul water which had risen from the drains. I talked to fire crews who were pumping flood water back into the river, and discovered that they were from Tyne & Wear and Lancashire. They had been called in at an hours’ notice and had been working on the scene ever since, staying at a local hotel. You cannot fail to be impressed by the
Read more

Quotes of the day 19th August 2020

Image
"Wise men profit more from fools than fools from wise men; for the wise men shun the mistakes of fools, but fools do not imitate the successes of the wise."  ( Cato the Elder , who lived 234 BC - 149 BC, quoted in "Lives" by Plutarch.) There is a similar saying by Germany's Iron Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck: Benjamin Franklin is supposed to have put the same saying in a more humorous form: "Wise men profit by the mistakes of others, while fools will not learn even from their own blunders." See also this thread on the "Quote Investigator" website . Let us all be wise and learn from the events of the last few days.
Read more

Quote of the day 24th July 2020

I was moved to put the passage below forward as a quote today when I saw a horrible post on twitter from someone writing that it was "excellent" that someone who took a different view from her about Brexit had died. I won't write which way round it was so that all the Remain supporters can assume the post was from a Brexit fanatic welcoming the death of a remainer and all the Leavers can assume it was a Remainiac welcoming one less Brexiteer. There's been plenty of nasty stuff on both sides but if you catch anyone of your own viewpoint  posting something like that who might listen to you, please do call them out on it - and point out that they're giving everyone on your side of the argument a bad name. Anyway, here's the quote from John Donne.
Read more