The Unionist parties are already nailing their colours to the mast on basis that you can’t make a general election into a one-issue referendum. Just yesterday, Keir Starmer again rejected the idea of a de facto referendum, saying :
This (a de facto independence referendum) was firmly rejected by Starmer in Edinburgh yesterday, who said that the choice was about which party would govern the UK and focus on the economy, the cost-of-living crisis, defence and security.
Kieran Andrews, The Times, 5 December 2022
“These are not issues that can be reduced by somebody else into a completely different constitutional question,” he said. “That is what a general election is about — all those issues. And the idea that all of that is as naught, nobody is interested in those questions, we’re arguing about something that Nicola Sturgeon defines in that way, is just to stand in the way of common sense of what a general election is about.”
Sir Keir said this at an event to publicise Labour’s new proposals for abolishing the House of Lords. Well not proposals yet, just suggestions by Gordie Brown about what might be actual proposals for UKLabour at some point. Oh and they’re not exactly new either.
But whatever, he’s bigging up the offer of major constitutional changes if Labour win the elections.
Is there a dead fish somewhere?
There’s something a bit fishy smelling when a politician rejects possible ways for Scotland to vote on constitutional change, while reserving for himself the right to make a different major constitutional change. Where it’s ok to abolish the House of Lords on the basis of what he himself describes as a multi-issue election. And where he says people are interested in other things. And where he may win well power but is highly unlikely to get over 50% of the votes casts.
So clearly it’s fine for the English gander but not allowed for the Scottish goose. What sauce!
Wee Ginger Dug thinks so too. And goes into it at greater length than I have. Read his blog post: An Insult to Damp Squibs
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