The great achievement of the Scottish Nationalists is to persuade people outside the borders of their own nation — including the London-based media — to equate them with the Scottish people. Obviously, they are their chief elected representatives just now, but the result of the referendum on Scottish independence quite clearly showed that the equation is false.
So when Nicola Sturgeon says there has to be another referendum because of Brexit, the equation should be much more firmly challenged. There is no moral reason why the result of a declaredly UK-wide referendum should require another vote in part of the kingdom (next, UDI for London?). Nor is there a constitutional right.
There might, of course, be a political reason — that English Tories feel illegitimate on this issue, and so fear a Scottish reaction against high-handedness. It makes more sense, however, to see Ms Sturgeon not as the authentic voice of a whole people, but as an epiphenomenon of Westminster weakness. Her raison d’être and her modus operandi are to embarrass any English-dominated government (i.e. every British government). Yet there is little to be embarrassed about over Brexit, and time and the polls are not on Nicola Sturgeon’s side.
So unionists need to get close to the Scottish people rather than deferring to Ms Sturgeon. When the Vote Leave campaign disbanded after the EU referendum, this column complained and called for a 17.4 Million Committee to be formed to advance the cause. This has, at least in part, happened. The same applies to the Better Together campaign in 2014. It folded after winning, but a version of it — the 2 Million Plus Club? — is needed now.
This is an extract from Charles Moore’s Notes. The full article can be found here.
Comments