Time to abandon the separatist fantasy
FIVE years on from the independence referendum, Nicola Sturgeon’s dream of Scexit – a Scottish exit from the UK – remains as distant as ever.
According to a new poll, 59 per cent of Scots want to remain in the UK, while only one in four backs a second plebiscite within 18 months. After 12 years in government, the SNP is unable to increase public support for the only cause it truly believes in – leaving the United Kingdom.
Brexit has shown beyond doubt that constitutional overhaul is a costly, protracted and deeply divisive process.
If withdrawing from a trading alliance can cause such chaos, one can only imagine the repercussions of Scotland leaving the UK.
And if the Nationalists were being entirely honest with the electorate, they would jettison all talk of ‘Indyref 2’ to signify their ongoing ambition to smash apart one of the world’s greatest political unions.
They should call it what it is – Scexit – and admit that years, probably generations, of devastating austerity would be required to make it work.
It is easy to see why some key figures in the SNP are bitterly opposed to rephrasing the question in a second poll.
Wisely, the Electoral Commission appears to back asking whether voters want to leave or remain in the UK – and not whether they believe Scotland should be independent, as they were asked in 2014.
It’s imperative that the SNP accepts the involvement of the Commission in any renewed attempt at dissolving the Union.
As much as the Nationalists attempt to distance themselves from Nigel Farage, and the hardline Brexiteers whom they characterise as extremists, their political philosophies are two sides of the same coin. Both prioritise their narrow ideologies over the practicalities of making them a reality, risking economic turmoil – in the full knowledge that ordinary families will bear the brunt of the consequences.
Alex Salmond once estimated that setting up a new state would cost about £200million. Yet the Common Weal proindependence think tank suggested last year it could be up to £40billion – and remember, this is a group that believes splitting up the UK is a desirable goal.
Ditching the pound is a core part of SNP strategy, yet it would leave us using sterling without Treasury consent for an indeterminate period; the kind of basketcase policy found in Latin America.
It’s time Nicola Sturgeon admitted her separatist dream is over – and finally turned her attention to governing. After all, with an ever-growing list of crises in her in-tray – including a record number of drugs deaths, an inquiry into two hospitals that are not fit for purpose and an underperforming economy – she has more than enough to be getting on with.