Threat to Union from Corbyn power games

IF Jeremy Corbyn takes possession of the keys to Downing Street, the future of the Union will once again be in peril.

Labour has relentlessly tried to brand itself as a pro-Union party during the election campaign in Scotland.

That position was fatally undermined yesterday when Mr Corbyn revealed that, shortly after entering No 10, he would begin discussions with Nicola Sturgeon about another divisive vote.

Theresa May has been clear on the issue: now is not the time to be talking about a second independence referendum.

The Prime Minister believes that discussing the issue could damage her Brexit negotiations.

She also knows that there is no appetite for it amongst Scots and stated in the party’s manifesto there would not be another vote on tearing the UK apart without ‘public consent’.

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale knows only too well that her only hope of winning seats next week is by appealing to pro-Union voters.

But any prospect of wooing them has surely been torpedoed by Mr Corbyn’s calamitous intervention, which demonstrated that the Union could end up as a pawn in his efforts to win power.

Meanwhile, waiting in the wings, Miss Sturgeon holds a bargaining chip of her own; the power to help him over the threshold of No 10 as part of a coalition of chaos.

It is clear that the threat of another vote on tearing our Union apart lies with the ascension of Mr Corbyn to the office of Prime Minister.