Scottish independence

The Tory whips are busy today, but not necessarily with fallout from the Clacton by-election. They have sent a message round to MPs saying the following: ‘There is a possibility that there will be a business statement on Monday which will also affect whipping next week.’ Some MPs have read this as a suggestion that they may be asked to vote on military action against Isis in Syria, which Number 10 has so far been reluctant to do. The Lib Dems have said they can’t see what benefit British troops would bring to the situation Syria. But chances are that Monday’s statement will relate to another event that’s taken place

Alex Salmond spent two years campaigning for independence for Scotland on the grounds of ‘social justice’. Now, claiming that the vote was lost because of the ‘old’ (subtext: the rich), he says he might declare independence anyway. His unprincipled demagoguery puts one in mind of Athenian society, as described by the ‘Old Oligarch’ (whoever he was). The O.O. saw Athens as a society in which the poor lorded it over the rich. His central point was that, because the poor were ignorant, ill-disciplined and evil, while the wealthy cared for what was good and just, the interests of the poor were not served by allowing the rich to hold power. So

Will there be another Scottish independence referendum? I went back to my hometown, Nairn, yesterday to gauge the mood after the ‘no’ win. Highland Region split 53/47 for ‘no’, tighter than I imagined. I was also interested in the younger voters (and the newly-enfranchised 16 and 17-year-olds) – because their interest (or lack of it) may determine whether the issue of secession stays with us. Canadian PM Stephen Harper told me last month that Quebec’s youth got bored of the subject of secession, which is why the issue has cooled. As he put it, I do believe that at some point that people, particularly the younger generation [of Quebec] started to sit back and say: we’ve been

Alex Salmond has proved himself the most effective party leader in Europe, let alone Britain. He has just run a terrifyingly effective campaign, perhaps the best I will ever witness. I could not disagree more with his aims, but to me that makes his achievement all the more remarkable. I doubt any other politician could have sold such a bad idea to 45 per cent of Scots. He ran rings around his opponents, outsmarting them all. He was so damn infuriating because he was so damn good: able to use humour, anger, audacity and caution when each was required. I can’t think of many politicians with his versatility. As a unionist, I’m delighted that the sharpest

This is an extract from a speech delivered by Tory MP Conor Burns at a Conservative association dinner in Chris Grayling’s constituency tonight: It would be extraordinary if I did not mention what is going on in Scotland this evening. I represent, as self-evidently, does the Lord Chancellor beside me a constituency in England. I have watched events in Scotland through that prism of course. But I have also watched as a staunch Unionist. I have always given equal weight to the full title of our great Party: Conservative AND Unionist. I was born and spent the early years of my life in Northern Ireland into a Catholic family with

Anyone listening to Alex Salmond’s final pro-independence rally tonight in Perth might have been forgiven for thinking the ‘Yes’ campaign was in the lead in the polls. He used most of it to congratulate his side for running such a successful campaign and for changing Scotland before the final result had even been declared. There was much less of a pitch for any undecided voters watching, unless the First Minister had concluded that anyone who was still wavering would be swayed by the idea that his guys had already won. listen to ‘Salmond: The referendum is ‘our opportunity of a lifetime’’ on Audioboo He told the audience that ‘what has emerged

I’ve just spent a couple of hours on the Burnhill estate in Rutherglen watching a group of Labour ‘No’ campaigners knock on the doors of voters to find out how they’ll be voting on Thursday. Burnhill is a tidy estate of mostly social housing and a Labour council ward. The local Labour MP Tom Greatrex and his colleague Graham Jones, visiting from Hyndburn, were part of the group. I was surprised by the number of ‘No’ posters on display in the windows. I was expecting a plethora of ‘Yes’ placards, but fewer indications of the households whose inhabitants plan to reject independence, but on this estate at least, it’s not