Alex Massie Alex Massie

Who has the better mandate: Theresa May or Nicola Sturgeon?

For the last week, the Unionist opposition at the Scottish parliament has enjoyed observing that the Scottish government is happy to ignore non-binding votes at Holyrood when it suits them to do so but now expects the UK government to be bound by today’s vote authorising the Scottish government to seek a Section 30 order that would begin the process by which a lawful second referendum on independence can be held.

It is a neat line but an insufficient one, not least since this vote – unlike some of those on which the SNP government has been defeated – actually recommends a particular course of action that the government should follow. In like fashion, the Unionist argument that we are in materially different circumstances from those that pertained in 2012 when all the parties agreed there were grounds for a plebiscite is, while correct, also insufficient. The fact of the matter is that votes count more than manifesto commitments and if the government has the numbers, it has the votes. As Lyndon Johnson once observed, the first task in politics is knowing how to count.

And so, as I type this, the Green party are supporting the SNP’s demand for a second referendum. The two-day debate – though both ‘day’ and ‘debate’ are doing some work there – curtailed last week following the attack at Westminster resumed and concluded today. Few new things were learned.

Save, perhaps, this: opinions, which were not soft before, have hardened still further since Nicola Sturgeon launched this latest constitutional gambit. As Kezia Dugdale, leader of the Scottish Labour party, put it, ‘These benches will campaign with all our heart to remain in the United Kingdom.’ That’s a necessary but insufficient condition for Unionist victory, of course.

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