The sad state of Scottish Labour is bad news for Boris

Nicola Sturgeon has laid down the gauntlet to Boris Johnson over Scottish independence: if the SNP wins, as it inevitably will, in May’s Scottish parliamentary elections, a ‘legal referendum’ should be held. How should the PM respond to the First Minister? The uncomfortable truth for Boris and the Tories is that there may be no good way out of this situation.

Douglas Ross, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, has so far offered his riposte: the Scottish Tories will boycott the whole thing. As counterattacks go, it’s not without its strategic merits. However, one thing looks set to completely undermine this plan: the weakness of Scottish Labour and the other opposition parties in Scotland. This is something that could make this tough stance backfire on the Tories big time.

We are in the midst of a leadership contest for the next leader of the Scottish Labour party. If you haven’t been paying attention to the whole thing, consider yourself lucky – it’s even more depressing than the last Lib Dem leadership contest, which is really scraping the barrel on downbeat UK political battles.