Is the Windsor Framework a get-out-of-jail card for Scottish nationalists? The excitement expressed in SNP circles at Rishi Sunak’s Protocol breakthrough yesterday was palpable. For if remaining in the EU single market while staying in the UK is good for Northern Ireland, surely this could be the case too for an independent Scotland? Isn’t this the ‘best of both worlds’ scenario that Nicola Sturgeon always asked for: borderless trade with the UK after Scotland joins the EU single market? A bonanza for Scottish businesses, who would be able to access markets in Europe free from Brexit red tape? Perhaps even a ‘Holyrood Brake’ to ensure that the Scottish Parliament can axe EU laws it doesn’t like?
Unfortunately, it does not work quite like that. Instead, the Windsor Framework underlines just how difficult it would be for Scotland to retain access to her biggest market – the UK – post-independence.
Officials in Brussels are desperate for the situation in Northern Ireland to be seen as unique; sui generis; the exception that proves the rule.
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