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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/27/st-nicola-sturgeon-turns-off-satnav-for-more-scenic-route-scottish-independence-shelving-second-referendum-scotland-first-minister
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| Version 4 | Version 5 |
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| St Nicola turns off satnav for more scenic route towards independence | St Nicola turns off satnav for more scenic route towards independence |
| (5 days later) | |
| Putting second referendum on hold was a huge concession Scotland’s first minister was making in making no real concession at all | Putting second referendum on hold was a huge concession Scotland’s first minister was making in making no real concession at all |
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| Tue 27 Jun 2017 18.10 BST | Tue 27 Jun 2017 18.10 BST |
| Last modified on Wed 14 Feb 2018 15.37 GMT | |
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| When a party loses more than a third of its seats at a general election, it tends to concentrate the mind. And Nicola Sturgeon was keen to let the Scottish parliament know she had been concentrating harder than anyone since 8 June when the SNP’s Westminster headcount fell from 56 to 35. The main lesson she had learned was that she still had far more MPs than any other Scottish party so she was basically still free to do as she pleased. | When a party loses more than a third of its seats at a general election, it tends to concentrate the mind. And Nicola Sturgeon was keen to let the Scottish parliament know she had been concentrating harder than anyone since 8 June when the SNP’s Westminster headcount fell from 56 to 35. The main lesson she had learned was that she still had far more MPs than any other Scottish party so she was basically still free to do as she pleased. |
| Not that Sturgeon had come to Holyrood to rub her opponents noses in it. Rather she had come to offer an olive branch. Maybe she had been a bit too hasty in calling for a second independence referendum before the country had had a chance to scrutinise the details of the UK government’s final Brexit deal. Now was not the time for that. Everyone had had enough of voting for things over the past three years and could do with a bit of time off to chill out. | Not that Sturgeon had come to Holyrood to rub her opponents noses in it. Rather she had come to offer an olive branch. Maybe she had been a bit too hasty in calling for a second independence referendum before the country had had a chance to scrutinise the details of the UK government’s final Brexit deal. Now was not the time for that. Everyone had had enough of voting for things over the past three years and could do with a bit of time off to chill out. |
| So what she was going to propose was this: she wasn’t saying there should never be a second referendum, but rather that it should be put on hold until after Scotland had had a chance to scrutinise the details of the UK government’s final Brexit deal. Which would probably be some time in autumn 2018. | So what she was going to propose was this: she wasn’t saying there should never be a second referendum, but rather that it should be put on hold until after Scotland had had a chance to scrutinise the details of the UK government’s final Brexit deal. Which would probably be some time in autumn 2018. |
| Try not to worry about the destination being basically the same. Just enjoy the fact she had reset the satnav to take in the scenic route. Legislation to implement a second referendum would be put on hold while she made another quick phone call to the Maybot to ask whether Scotland could have a say in the Brexit negotiations. | Try not to worry about the destination being basically the same. Just enjoy the fact she had reset the satnav to take in the scenic route. Legislation to implement a second referendum would be put on hold while she made another quick phone call to the Maybot to ask whether Scotland could have a say in the Brexit negotiations. |
| OK, she’d asked once already and been given the brush off, but nobody could accuse of her not going the extra mile for her country, so she’d have another go. But she wasn’t holding her breath. And then she’d just kick back her heels and wait for David Davis to screw up Brexit completely and then there wouldn’t be a person left in Scotland who wouldn’t be up for independence. | OK, she’d asked once already and been given the brush off, but nobody could accuse of her not going the extra mile for her country, so she’d have another go. But she wasn’t holding her breath. And then she’d just kick back her heels and wait for David Davis to screw up Brexit completely and then there wouldn’t be a person left in Scotland who wouldn’t be up for independence. |
| Ruth Davidson put up her arms in surrender. Though the Scottish Conservative leader had hoped Nicola might kick a second referendum into the long grass, she wasn’t entirely surprised that everything was pretty much business as usual. And in any case, she didn’t feel particularly up for a fight right now. The Tories’ name was mud in Scotland after the DUP £1.5bn bung and no one north of the border would take a word she said seriously right now. After just a few mildly disobliging remarks about the SNP, she cheerfully sat down. | Ruth Davidson put up her arms in surrender. Though the Scottish Conservative leader had hoped Nicola might kick a second referendum into the long grass, she wasn’t entirely surprised that everything was pretty much business as usual. And in any case, she didn’t feel particularly up for a fight right now. The Tories’ name was mud in Scotland after the DUP £1.5bn bung and no one north of the border would take a word she said seriously right now. After just a few mildly disobliging remarks about the SNP, she cheerfully sat down. |
| At which St Nicola, the patron saint of Scotland, once more let rip. It was a huge concession she was making in making no real concession. Wasn’t it true that she and Ruth really wanted the same thing from the Brexit negotiations: continuing membership of the single market? And if the UK government was to deny Scotland the very thing which had cross-party support, then who could possibly object to a second referendum? She sounded entirely reasonable. Mainly because she was being entirely reasonable. Though it might have been a better look for her not to appear quite so thrilled that Scotland was going to be shafted over Brexit. | At which St Nicola, the patron saint of Scotland, once more let rip. It was a huge concession she was making in making no real concession. Wasn’t it true that she and Ruth really wanted the same thing from the Brexit negotiations: continuing membership of the single market? And if the UK government was to deny Scotland the very thing which had cross-party support, then who could possibly object to a second referendum? She sounded entirely reasonable. Mainly because she was being entirely reasonable. Though it might have been a better look for her not to appear quite so thrilled that Scotland was going to be shafted over Brexit. |
| Both Labour’s Kezia Dugdale and the Lib Dem’s Willie Rennie were narked that St Nicola’s period of contemplation and reflection had involved so little apparent contemplation and reflection. “Nothing has changed,” they said incredulously. St Nicola shrugged. Yadda, yadda. Talk to the hand. Her game, her rules. Like it or lump it. If all of them were so sure no one would want another referendum after Brexit, why were they so reluctant to put it to the test? | Both Labour’s Kezia Dugdale and the Lib Dem’s Willie Rennie were narked that St Nicola’s period of contemplation and reflection had involved so little apparent contemplation and reflection. “Nothing has changed,” they said incredulously. St Nicola shrugged. Yadda, yadda. Talk to the hand. Her game, her rules. Like it or lump it. If all of them were so sure no one would want another referendum after Brexit, why were they so reluctant to put it to the test? |
| Still, St Nicola didn’t want to close the session on a note of discord. It was summer and everyone could do with a break. So she ended with a sing-song about the grubbiness of the DUP deal. There wasn’t a person in Scotland who wasn’t pissed off about that. Even Ruth joined in. Her honeymoon period with the Maybot is well and truly over. | Still, St Nicola didn’t want to close the session on a note of discord. It was summer and everyone could do with a break. So she ended with a sing-song about the grubbiness of the DUP deal. There wasn’t a person in Scotland who wasn’t pissed off about that. Even Ruth joined in. Her honeymoon period with the Maybot is well and truly over. |
| Scottish independence | Scottish independence |
| The politics sketch | The politics sketch |
| Nicola Sturgeon | Nicola Sturgeon |
| Brexit | Brexit |
| Scotland | Scotland |
| Scottish politics | Scottish politics |
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