Iain Martin

Sturgeon’s bluff

Only one thing will determine a second Scottish independence vote: whether she really thinks she can win

issue 02 July 2016

It ought not to be a surprise that Alex Salmond, Scotland’s former First Minister, has declared that the vote to leave the European Union is the trigger for a second referendum on Scottish independence. Salmond thinks everything is an excuse for another go. If a new Bay City Rollers album suffered poor reviews south of the border, or an English football pundit failed to declare Archie Gemmill’s wonder goal for Scotland against Holland in the 1978 world cup the best ever, Salmond would be right there on the UK’s television screens, chortling at the brilliance of his own wit, before intoning gravely that this insult is surely the final straw for the United Kingdom.

Salmond has been demanding a second Scottish referendum almost from the moment he lost the last one. Having been beaten 55-45 on a turnout of 85 per cent in 2014, the hotheaded and emotional Salmond struggles, in a manner that is psychologically interesting, to process that defeat.

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