Most people are glad to see the end of a referendum campaign, but the losing side always wants to keep going. Nicola Sturgeon has this week demanded a second vote on independence, in defiance of public opinion. And as Brexit talks begin, the country is still divided, with many people wishing to see the negotiations break down and the referendum result be overturned.
The Prime Minister will need to fight these two battles in different ways. In Scotland, she must take care not to fall into the nationalists’ traps. Ms Sturgeon ran for office promising not to call a second referendum unless it was ‘clear’ that a ‘majority of people wanted a referendum’. At the time, the SNP expected support for independence to rise. This didn’t happen; the Brexit vote seems have made Scots even less keen on secession. Sensing that her moment is slipping away, Ms Sturgeon has now called for a new referendum.
The first minister is deploying the usual tricks, trying to dress up an SNP obsession as the will of the nation. Mrs May must not be fooled by her grandiose language, claiming that the ‘Scottish Parliament’ (i.e., her party and a few Greens) has ‘mandated’ her to ‘hold formal talks’ about independence. The architects of the Scottish Parliament made sure it had no such powers, precisely so nationalists could not harass Scots with never-ending votes about independence.
In her visit to Edinburgh, Mrs May repeated that now is not the time for another referendum. She must tread carefully: the SNP, like all nationalists, will always seek more talks — ideally to flounce out of them, declaring a breach of faith. Ms Sturgeon is already saying that it is ‘democratically indefensible’ for her party to be denied its new referendum.
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