Dazed and confused by their leader’s sudden departure, Scottish nationalists are now deeply worried that Nicola Sturgeon has taken the independence dream with her. She hasn’t of course. Independence is a long game and there remain many true believers. However the chances of transforming the Scottish National party’s immense electoral success into a referendum on independence in the near term seem remote.
Some in the movement are wondering if the referendum route is still viable since it has been driven into a legal cul de sac by Nicola Sturgeon’s discredited idea of turning the next general election into a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence. That ploy is now surely dead.
The recently-installed Westminster leader of the SNP, Stephen Flynn, has suggested that the entire independence project needs to ‘take a breather’. It might be a long time before it regains its puff.
The immediate task of the next SNP leader will be to prevent a post-Sturgeon collapse in electoral support
The special conference scheduled for next month to debate the way forward has now been cancelled.
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