A new YouGov poll has indicated that Scotland now has a majority for independence from the U.K. When asked “should Scotland be an independent country?” 51 percent of 1,039 Scots aged over sixteen answered “yes,” 49 percent answered “no.”
In a speech delivered to Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) activists, Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said that her party ought to make the case for Scottish independence “with passion but also with patience and respect.” The SNP’s domestic record is woeful — yet, as indicated by December’s general election, this is not enough to deter Scots from voting for them. Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, cannot afford to be complacent if he hopes to keep the union intact.
North of the border, hatred for the Tories is pronounced (in large part thanks to Thatcher). Additionally, the majority of Scots, 62 percent, voted to remain in the European Union. This has been politically helpful to the SNP in allowing them to frame Scotland as having been dragged out of Europe against her will. Stephen Daisley has described theirs as “a strategy of sovereignty by stealth.” If the party does well at the 2021 Holyrood elections in Edinburgh, then “Scexit” — as it’s now being nicknamed — will be a very real threat.