If you believe in the United Kingdom, it’s hard not to revel in the bitter infighting occasioned by the contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon. Senior SNP ministers are monstering one another on TV, trashing their government’s record and talking about sacking their rivals if they win. After 16 years of iron discipline, which helped them steamroller through election after election, it’s all gone horribly wrong. And by ‘horribly’, I mean ‘gloriously’. But Unionists are in danger of becoming complacent.
On its face, the Sky News poll that accompanied Monday night’s SNP leadership debate was encouraging for supporters of the United Kingdom. Eight years after 45 per cent of Scots voted to break away, support for Scexit is down to 39 per cent. A majority say Scotland will still be part of the UK in a decade’s time. Sturgeon is off. Nats are at each others’ throats. Punters have gone iffy on independence. Drams all round and ‘Rule Britannia’ on the pipes, please.
Forbes is a nationalist ideologue, utterly committed to breaking up the UK
Not quite.
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