If Johnson wants to deliver his vision for England he needs to be rid of Scotland

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Politics Home has noted that:

The SNP leader and Scottish first minister will on Thursday launch a renewed push for a so-called Section 30 order, the transfer of powers from Westminster to Holyrood that is needed to call a referendum.

Launching a new paper called Scotland's Right to Choose, Ms Sturgeon will claim that the SNP's strong showing in last week's general election combined with the pro-Brexit Conservatives' dominance in England boosts the case for a re-run of the 2014 Scotland poll.

The timing is relevant. Today is Johnson's government's Queen's Speech Day. And the occasion will be used to reject any claim from Scotland for such a referendum.

But along with his Brexit deal - which if it is anything but soft will be Johnson's Poll Tax - Scotland will be the issue that gives Johnson most grief in this parliament, both only being overshadowed by the next global financial crisis, when it arrives. The reason why is noted in an excellent article on the Bella Caledonia website by Siobhan Tolland. In it she says, with considerable insight:

I often think Elections can act as a mirror reflection of who and what societies are at that moment in time. Reflections that we perhaps didn't even recognise in ourselves. The General Election on Thursday certainly did that and, for Scotland, it has shown us something really quite remarkable. It reminded us of what our modern Scotland now wants. We want to be European, we want so much better than austerity politics, and we want to make our own decisions.

As significantly she notes:

Equally importantly, however, the election results down south have allowed us to see an England that is pretty much the exact opposite of the kind of society we want. England voted Brexit and they voted the party of austerity. These two election results, then, raise one of the most fundamental issues in the history of our Union: What Scotland wants is now completely incompatible with England, and the strength of our vote means we are clear, solid and confident in what we want.

And she concludes the open8ng part of her article saying:

I think Scotland made the decision to become independent last Thursday. I don't think we have realised that yet, but I think that's what we've just done. I am not saying that people went to the polls and actively ticked a box hoping that would make us independent. Some did, but that is not the case for most of us yet. But the momentum now gathering in Scotland means that something shifted last Thursday. A combination of intentional decisions and uncontrollable political circumstances have created a Scotland that has now changed to its very core.

I strongly suspect that this is true. The fact is that many in England do not appreciate (partly because they have never been to Scotland and have not the slightest intention of ever doing so, but want a say in its affairs which they consider must be subordinate to their own, come what may) that Scotland does not want to become independent because of economics, party politics, oil (or its absence), spite, or anything else the English might imagine. It wants to be independent because it is an identifiable nation state that thinks quite differently from the country that is seeking to control it. And history shows that this, almost invariably, is a fact that leads to independence.

Johnson cannot make Scots want to be ruled from London. What he can do is increase their alienation. And like it or not, 48 SNP MPs will be a running sore for him that will distract him from his ‘English vision'. If he believes in that ‘vision' he needs to be rid of Scotland or it will be a constant reminder of his failings. If I was him I would concede, and soon.m


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