Another treacherous queen of Scots has miscalculated
used to have a lot of time for Nicola Sturgeon. You might disagree with her about the Union, but she was undeniably a brilliant politician. The love child of a Bay City Roller and a Shetland pony, what Sturgeon lacked in charm she made up for in cunning and strength. While Labour at Westminster made itself progressively more unelectable, Sturgeon’s victorious SNP rolled out socialism in Scotland, and got evil Tory taxpayers down South to pay for it.
It takes some nerve to offer free university education to Scots and to young people from every single country in the EU, except England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Particularly when such largesse is only possible because Scots get £1,600 more per head than the English. As I say, it was hard not to have a sneaking admiration for the canny Sturgeon.
Well, not any more. At a critical moment in our history, this selfserving little bism has handed EU negotiators a stick to beat us with. By calling for a second referendum on Scottish independence when she knows there is maximum mischief to be made, Nicola Sturgeon proves herself to be not just dishonest, but a traitor to boot.
“We’ve made very clear our belief that constitutional referenda are once-in-a-generation events,” said Nicola, and she meant it most sincerely, until she lost that first referendum. Now, after the vote for Brexit, the SNP leader’s “belief ” has conveniently altered. And why not? I mean, total loss of personal integrity is a small price to pay for shafting the United Kingdom, isn’t it, hen? Instead of putting her padded shoulder to the wheel to help Theresa May get the best possible deal, the self-styled queen of Scots goes behind the UK’s back and flirts with the Continent. It’s shameful, it really is. But Nicola couldn’t give a tartan duck about betraying 60 million of her fellow citizens if it advancesadva the dream of three million people who want an independent Scotland. I’m struggling to think of a more poisonous display of political opportunism. This is how much Sturgeon hates us. The woma woman seemingly ca cares nothing for the United Kingdom, of which Scotland is such a p precious and integr integral part. She owes the UK no loyalty. In fact, it gi gives her sly pleas pleasure to underm undermine it at every tu turn. Look at the way she stepped in front of the cameras at Holyrood on Monday and delivered herhe “I wish we weren’t in this position position” lament. Pained regret? Give me a break. Nicola Sturgeon puts the truck into truculent. The woman has an ego the size of an HGV.
Sturgeon’s contempt for the English is a given. What is truly shocking is the way she is prepared to play fast and loose with the future of her beloved Scots. (The same Scots who, only two and a half years ago, voted to remain in the UK.) If Nicola thinks that Britain leaving the Single Market counts as “going off a cliff ”, just wait until she tries to get an independent Scotland into the EU. As one economist said tersely on Twitter, “Scotland is skint.”
With oil prices tanking and a budget deficit of £15 billion per annum, the country doesn’t even meet the entry criteria for EU membership. And if Sturgeon thinks that Brussels will fill the gaping hole in Scottish finances once London stops sending the cheques, can I suggest she spends a long weekend in Athens? Greece is a good example of what happens to a debt-ridden small country once it’s strapped into the Euro straitjacket.
Make no mistake. The rest of the UK, grown aweary of Sturgeon’s nationalist tantrums, is not going to let Scotland keep the pound. They will have to take their chances with the Currency of Doom.
If you have achieved your lifelong goal and made Scotland an independent sovereign nation, why would you instantly sign that sovereignty away to Brussels? Why would you insist on holding a referendum concurrently with Brexit negotiations, causing a huge and costly distraction, when you could bide your time, wait until after the 2020 general election and see how things pan out?
Because it’s all about her, that’s why. This is about Nicola’s survival, Nicola’s career, Nicola strutting about like a puffed-up little pouter pigeon in her scarlet peplum cooing, Me, Me, Me!
Another chronic attention-seeker, who has used Brexit for her own ends, is Gina Miller. On Monday’s PM programme, Mrs Miller told an astonished Eddie Mair that MPs should have been allowed to “vote in secret” on the Brexit Bill. The same Gina Miller who lectured us all on the need for “transparency” seriously believes our elected representatives should hide their decisions.
What stories do you suppose the Sanctimony Sisters, Sturgeon and Miller, tell themselves about their motives? I prefer Her Majesty the Queen who, yesterday morning, was believed to be giving Brexit the Royal Assent without further ado. As the Queen is believed to have said at a luncheon: “I don’t see why we can’t just get out. What’s the problem?” You tell ’em, Ma’am!
I reckon it’s already clear that Nicola Sturgeon has made a historic miscalculation. A third of SNP voters supported Brexit and plenty more decent Scots will feel that now is not the time to toss a caber in the works. They will wish Theresa May well as she goes forth to do battle for Scotland, and England, and Wales and Northern Ireland. The Prime Minister, with our full permission, should tell Nicola Sturgeon exactly what she can do with her second referendum, until such time as we are in calmer waters.
Meanwhile, if Nicola wants to go behind the back of the UK and flirt with the Continent, then be our guest. Maybe just bear in mind, hen, what happened the last time a queen of Scots did the dirty on us. She lost her head, while England and Queen Elizabeth emerged triumphant.