Sunak should keep calm and carry on over Sturgeon’s referendum

In many ways, the biggest political development of this week was the Supreme Court ruling that a referendum bill would be outside the competence of the Scottish parliament. This unanimous decision – and the fact that the UK government isn’t budging on a Section 30 order which would allow another referendum – means Nicola Sturgeon is being forced to fall back on her plan to try and turn the next election into a de facto referendum on independence. As I say in the Times today, this is a risky strategy. 

But even if Sturgeon falls short of the majority of the vote she is seeking in 2024, unionists will still have questions to answer. How do they reduce support for independence in the medium term? And in what circumstances would they accept another referendum?

Ruling one out indefinitely would be a mistake.