Stephen Daisley Stephen Daisley

Truss’s promising stance on Scottish independence

Liz Truss (Credit: Getty images)

Much to the chagrin of colleagues, friends and ex-friends, I’ve spent the past few years raising the alarm about how Scottish devolution is gradually eroding the Union.

I’ve noted how the devolution settlement was devised as a fiefdom by arrogant New Labour architects who, unable to imagine anyone else coming to power, failed to include sufficient checks and balances. I’ve catalogued how the SNP has seized on this flaw to transform the Scottish Government into a permanent, taxpayer-funded campaign against the UK state. I’ve remonstrated about Westminster’s failure to notice the problem and its unwillingness to do something about it. I’ve proposed various models for reforming devolution so that it returns to its original purpose and becomes less of a threat to the Union.

Nicola Sturgeon’s decision to press ahead with a unilateral referendum — with a pitstop at the Supreme Court in October — is mostly a diversion to appease her party’s grassroots but it does helpfully illustrate the points I’ve been making. Less encouragingly, neither Downing Street, nor Whitehall, nor Parliament appear to be taking seriously a devolved administration openly challenging Westminster’s sovereign authority.

So I ought to be songful of heart over Liz Truss’s comments to the Sunday Telegraph. The frontrunner told the paper:

‘Scottish Nationalists accepted that their referendum was a once in a generation opportunity, and I will hold them to that. I will work to strengthen our whole Union. As prime minister, I will do what is necessary and right to defend our Union, just as I have already done on the Northern Ireland Protocol. The SNP lost the 2014 referendum and Nicola Sturgeon is now leading a campaign of deception to steamroller the UK and break up the Union. But I am completely clear that there will be no second Scottish independence referendum on my watch.’

Insofar that she hints at the need for Westminster to begin fighting back, Truss’s stance is very much to be welcomed

Truss turned her attention to the draft legislation the Scottish Government intends to use to carry out its rebel referendum:

‘The Scottish Independence Referendum Bill isn’t legal and will be invalidated if passed by the Scottish Parliament.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in