Oh dear. Not content with swelling the Scottish government to an eye-watering 29 ministers in a parliament of 129, it seems the SNP now wish to emulate Beijing’s over-mighty executive in other ways.
Economist Mark Blyth, who was appointed less than two months ago to the Scottish government’s much-trumpeted economic council, has suggested that China’s controversial ‘Belt and Road’ scheme could well be the answer to the ails of an independent Scotland.
Speaking on a Zoom call he responded to a question about whether a post-Scexit Edinburgh would be dependant on ‘Russian roubles’ by suggesting the threat of a Beijing-backed scheme would be worth exploiting to prove Westminster wrong for not wanting to ‘play ball.’
He added: ‘The point is Scotland has options that people don’t think about. The question is whether they have, if you will, the wherewithal or desire to follow through on those options.’
Steerpike looks forward to the people of Scotland thinking about that threat too.
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