Cavey wrote:
Not for the first time, then, the SNP have been found woefully deficient in tactical terms.
The Washington Post sees it differently:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/eur ... story.html It makes the case that Sturgeon may be playing the long game -- conceding any chance of a coalition with Labour in this parliament, in favour of emphasising the disconnection between Scotland and Westminister and thus building the case for a second independence referendum. Perhaps this was by accident rather than design, but the scenario itself seems very possible to me. Scotland clearly voted to reject Tory governance and Tory policies, but with a Tory majority, they'll get more of both over the next five years than the did in the last five. I wonder if, if we held the referendum tomorrow, if it would be defeated this time.
Quote:
After unexpected political charisma and cunning propelled him to another term as Britain’s prime minister, David Cameron will now need every ounce of those skills to avoid going down in history with an altogether different title: founding father of Little England.
A result that maintained the status quo at 10 Downing Street masked the dramatic transformations roiling Britain, ones that threaten to leave this country more isolated than at any time in its modern history.
Thursday’s election may become just the first in a trilogy of rapid-fire votes that set this island adrift from Europe, divide it in half along ancient lines of national identity and ultimately leave behind a rump state of ever-diminishing value to its American allies.
Quote:
If Britain leaves Europe despite notably pro-European sentiment in Scotland, the chances of Scotland’s newly empowered nationalists leading another drive for independence would instantly rise — despite a promise that last year’s failed bid was a “once-in-a-generation” event.
Quote:
Thursday’s election underscored the vast and growing political gulf between England and Scotland. Voters in both places delivered a landslide, but in England it was for the center-right Conservatives and in Scotland it was for the left-wing Scottish National Party (SNP).
Just 15 percent of Scots voted for the Conservatives, the party that will now govern the entire U.K., Scotland included, on its own terms and without the mitigating force of a coalition.
The Tories’ plans include a doubling down on austerity policies that the SNP ran pledging to reverse but that it will have little power to stop despite winning 56 of Scotland’s 59 seats in Parliament. That will likely strengthen the SNP’s argument that Scotland is better off on its own.
“It’s absolutely perfect for them. It plays to all their narratives about the differences between England and Scotland and the wickedness of the Tories,” said Torrance, who has written biographies of the SNP’s top leaders. “They can just sit back and reap the benefits.”
With the SNP dominating politics north of the border in a way that few ever imagined, the party is likely to win convincingly in Scottish parliamentary elections slated for next year and to promise another independence referendum — but to leave the timing ambiguous.
A British exit from Europe could be just the trigger the SNP needs to call another vote, following the defeat of last year’s referendum by a 10-point margin.
Quote:
Cameron himself played to English national sentiment during the campaign, continually warning English voters about the dangers of a Labor government propped up by the Scottish nationalists. The tactic may have helped him to pull out a decisive victory. But having stoked English passions could complicate his efforts to hold the union together.
“The worry is that if you do play the English against the Scots in this way, you run the risk of accentuating the kind of national divisions that the U.K. has always been able to gloss over,” said Michael Kenny, a politics professor at Queen Mary University of London. “So the argument is, you’re playing with fire here.”
That last point seems particularly sharp to me.
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