Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

It’s not up to Cameron whether he survives a ‘Yes’ vote in Scotland

David Cameron may well have privately resolved that there is no cause for him to step down if Scotland votes for independence in a few months’ time, as per James Chapman’s scoop today. But the problem is that it is not in the Prime Minister’s gift to make that decision. He may well say that he isn’t going to resign, but that would have no effect on the number of letters that would be sent to 1922 Committee chairman Graham Brady demanding a leadership contest.

It’s not as though the Tory party will reel from the shock of Scotland leaving, then wait to see what the Prime Minister says and then if he says he’s staying, they all get back to their day jobs. The referendum is the single event that his swing MPs all mention when asked what could seriously trip the Prime Minister up in their estimation between now and 2015.

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