Prime Minister David Cameron wades into the indyref 2 row and says ‘No need for second independence referendum’, it is time to move on politically and stop listening to Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond’s constant carping, the boat has sailed on independence, time to shape the new political landscape of the United Kingdom

Dear All

You may have heard the phrases ‘the party is over’ and ‘the boat has sailed’, that is exactly what has happened in regard to Scottish independence.

It was a botched campaign lacking in substance and all about spin.

On the 18^th September 2014, the people of Scotland said no to independence, the vote was decisive, 55% in favour of staying in the United Kingdom.

Why did the people of Scotland not back Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, it came down to a simple concept, trust, the majority people don’t trust the SNP with their future.

At the Westminster 2015 election, the minority who voted for independence backed the SNP because they thought this was another route to independence.

It wasn’t, like much of what Nicola Sturgeon does it was another false dawn.

In Scotland, there is a political vacuum which needs to be filled; Scotland needs a new centre party which can encapsulate the best aspects of policies of what are termed ‘the left’ and ‘the right’.

Although the Conservative Party is a centre right party, it has failed in Scotland.

The evidence isn’t the result of Westminster 2015 but over circa 35 years, Ruth Davidson like most leaders of parties takes comfort from saying that the Conservative vote went up. The reality for the Conservatives is that Ruth Davidson did fail her first real test in Westminster 2015, and things look bleak in 2015.

Ruth Davidson is ‘holding the fort’, what she isn’t doing is making progress, eventually that will click with party bosses, post Holyrood 2016.

This is just an observation from the sidelines.

Down the road at the Westminster village, the real decisions are still made by David Cameron. The Nationalists at present are trying to keep the independence dream alive but everything has a shelf life. The SNP cannot keep their momentum and importantly the commitment of their new SNP members going indefinitely. Sooner or later these people will wake up and discover, not only is nothing happening on the independence front but also nothing is getting done by the SNP Government.

When they grasp the SNP isn’t a party of government but solely of protest, they will fade away, hence we have Salmond being bizarre and grasping at straws, it doesn’t matter what the excuse is, it is in their eyes reason for a second vote.

As I wrote at the top of the post, ‘the party is over’ and ‘the boat has sailed’, and it has, there is a new political landscape emerging, not just in Scotland but also in the rest of the United Kingdom.

English votes (for) English laws is a symptom of the new concept, although I don’t agreed with Evel in principle, and see it as an affront to democracy, it probably will be pushed through, no Scottish MP should have lesser voting rights than any other MP.

It is a sledgehammer to crack a nut and I seriously doubt it will fix anything let alone the mood of the English public who see Scots get things they don’t in England and that has stoked up resentment.

What should be remember is that political choices were made in Scotland, and there has been a knock on effect which is unseen by the English public at large. They are just reading the headlines, they aren’t doing the research and importantly they aren’t asking the right questions.    

Salmond said recently:

“I think a second independence referendum is inevitable. The question is not the inevitability, it’s the timing and that is very much in the hands of Nicola Sturgeon.”

Firstly, a second referendum isn’t inevitable and it is very much in the hands of David Cameron, not Nicola Sturgeon, she doesn’t get to sanction a second vote because this matter is reserved to Westminster.

David Cameron said:

“I think it is important that a referendum is legal and fair and properly constituted and that’s what we had and it was decisive so I don’t see the need for another one.”

If Nicola Sturgeon decided to have a second illegal referendum without a section 30 order from Westminster, she will find rather quickly that legal action would see the Scottish Government and Parliament shut down.

And she won’t risk losing that platform.

Do you know what time it is politically?  

It is time to look at a new construct of the United Kingdom which appears to be emerging albeit slowly.

Finally, it can’t have escaped SNP members notice that the Scottish Government run by Nicola Sturgeon not only is doing nothing, but they are making matters worse.

There comes a point when you have to walk away and find a new party of government because the protest thing has no place in administration.

Yours sincerely

George Laird 

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University