Sturgeon’s case for Scexit doesn’t add up

No one should be too perturbed by Nicola Sturgeon’s latest referendum pronouncements. There will not be a referendum next year. The thought of the First Minister flying to London to start secession negotiations after gaining a majority of votes in Scotland at the next general election is Pythonesque in its absurdity.

At some point this century a politician might emerge who kicks off an era-defining trend of breaking apart established liberal democracies – but that politician is unlikely to be Nicola Sturgeon. Scotland can, and will, ultimately shrug its shoulders at this week’s Holyrood melodrama.

The same goes for the First Minister’s latest attempt to create an economic narrative to justify exiting the UK. Speaking ahead of her indyref statement to MSPs, Sturgeon tried to link the thing that is vexing Scots, the cost-of-living crisis, to being in the Union. Making the case that Westminster-imposed Brexit and austerity policies are the root cause of the crisis, she said: ‘It is clearer than ever that when it comes to tackling the cost-of-living crisis, Westminster is not the solution to the problem, Westminster is the problem.