Politics
Don’t hold your breath for indyref2
“Why might she want to delay a decision? One reason is that she cannot guarantee to win a second referendum. Opinion polls still show a majority for remaining within the UK. Calling another vote now…
The sorcerer’s apprentice and Labour’s spent spell
“There is something profoundly self-satisfied about the condemnations of nationalism that echo through the increasingly empty stalls of conference after conference, as if the party’s internationalism is confirmed by every further chunk that nationalism takes…
Never a good time to call #indyref2 but…
“So, why should leaders of the SNP be exempt from a bout of passion, especially if loads of their supporters are keen, see it as a last opportunity for decades, and hope that they can…
Scottish fast-track to the EU
“There is considerable political goodwill to Scotland in EU capitals since it is facing Brexit despite having voted to remain. That political goodwill, on current trends, is likely to feed into an effort to fast-track…
Conventional wisdom: Brexit, devolution and Sewel
“It is inevitable that the balance of power between the devolved and central governments will shift, with more power going to the former, unless the UK government actively chooses what Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones…
Poking Scotland in the eye on the EU
“The behaviour of May and her Brexit lackeys Davis, Fox and especially Johnson have won her few friends in Brussels, while Sturgeon’s smoother approach has started to pay dividends there and in Berlin too.”
The English question resurfaces
“For the kinds of free trade arrangements which many Brexiteers appear to favour are exactly the forces that have opened up the chasms between capital city and provinces, and between the networked and the ‘left…
Time to reject May’s absurd adventurism
“The notion that it ought to be the people who are sovereign, rather than parliament, has a long and proud history in Scotland.” “Scotland can either stick with the result of the 2014 referendum or…
Sturgeon’s confederal Brexit solution
“Maybe, like Theresa May, she’s (Nicola Sturgeon) gradually realising that what party zealots want and the country needs are not the same. So perhaps her opponents should not be mocking her political incoherence, but encouraging…
A new-style Scottish foreign policy
“There would be six EU members with a population less than Scotland. Size is only one factor in foreign policy. Ideas, principles, commitment, talent and domestic support are more important. Scotland does not lack in…
Politically savvy and nigh impossible
“For Scotland to meet the obligations of EEA-EFTA membership, almost all areas of policy would have to be devolved – immigration, business regulations, employment law, competition policy, product standards to name just a few. This…
Grand coalition ready for Brexit
“Theresa May’s refusal to bring a bill to the Commons or to publish a White Paper on Brexit has been an extraordinary rejection of basic democratic accountability and debate.” But: “84% of MPs at Westminster…