Unionists need to change scratchy record

Hit with yet another poll showing majority support for Scottish independence, Number 10 has been advised to break the emergency glass and slam the red button.

The “it was a once-in a-generation vote” defence is in terminal decline and perhaps more worrying for the Tories, the economic c a s e a g a i n s t independence, which once reigned supreme, is losing its sway in the face of a no-deal Brexit.

I n c r e a s i n g l y resembling King Canute tr ying to hold back the t ide , Bo r is Johnson and his team have been strategising new me thods to stem support for independence.

The latest idea , which surfaced in a leaked memo, appears to be to try to co-opt Brussels into agreeing to block Scotland joining the EU should the country vote for independence. Yeah, good luck with that.

Arguments about d e f i c i t s a n d requirements on new members aside, the notion that the EU will be doing Westminster any favours after a very me s s y Brexit negotiation is for the birds.

It was only last week that, rather like a sulky teenager, the UK told the EU “not to bother” calling or visiting as our Brexit demands hadn’t been met.

The memo, compiled by slick political consultancy Hanbury, warns about a “vacuum” on the union side of the debate and urges against the use of offtherebuttals for a second referendum.

With a Ho l y r o o d election on the horizon and the end of the Brexit transition in sight, Downing Street needs to get a better line.