Get over it

I heard an interview with Alastair Carmichael on Radio Scotland last night, in which there was some discussion of the referendum result.  In it he said that Nicola Sturgeon must publicly accept the outcome of the referendum and should not be making statements implying that there might be another referendum on Scottish independence, as this broke the terms of the Edinburgh agreement.  Having read it, it does not appear to me that the agreement explicitly rules out another referendum.  It merely says

 "The two governments are committed to continue to work together constructively in the  light of the outcome, whatever it is, in the best interests of the people of Scotland and of the rest of the United Kingdom"

 (Discalimer: I am not a lawyer!)

Now given the Ms Sturgeon has committed to work with the Smith Commission, I would say that she is holding up her end of the bargain.  Time will tell whether the UK parties will do the same.

However, I do think that this is somewhat disingenous of Mr Carmichael, given the Vow, which was clearly not in the spirit of paragraph 29 of the agreement.

It's something we Yes voters hear a lot - Scotland said No, move on.  I think this is indicative of the level of fear we induced in Westminster.  They want to hurry us along, telling us we should get over the No vote and get back to business as usual.  The problem is, that's not going to be possible for a substantial minority of the population.

Last night I attended my first SNP branch meeting.  We were told that normally there would be half-a-dozen or so people at these things.  Last night there were seventy.  And those seventy were not sitting quietly, keeping their heads down.  There were lots of ideas and opinions put forward, to the point where the meeting simply ran out of time.  Another is being arranged for a fortnight's time, to allow for further discussion.  Does that sound like people who want business as usual?

Getting another referendum will be more difficult than the last one.  I think Westminster will realise that they are not guaranteeed to win another referendum, and will be very reluctant to permit it for that reason.  However, as we have two elections coming up in close proximity, followed by a referendum on EU membership, it's not difficult to imagine a cirsumstance in which another referendum on independence might become inevitable.  This is what I want to work towards.