Andy Burnham has just made a huge mistake over independence |
This article appears as part of the Unspun: Scottish Politics newsletter.
We were so close, yet so far. So close you could almost taste it - like poor old Tantalus cursed to spend eternity with his mouth just beyond reach of the most delicious food imaginable.
It’s Scotland’s historic plight, it seems, to come always within inches of what it deserves - whether in battle, sport or politics.
On Thursday, when Andy Burnham met John Swinney, the Prime Minister could have taken the issue of another independence referendum off the table with some smart political manoeuvring.
Instead, he has doomed Scotland. We’ll now have to endure the SNP wanging on about the achingly dull issue of the process of getting another referendum for five more long and excruciating years.
Downing Street made clear Burnham isn’t interested in “constitutional changes like further referendums”.
Nobody expected him to grant another referendum. But he could have punctured the SNP’s ball by saying he was going to set up a constitutional convention which would include looking into the issue of how another referendum will be held.
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If he’d done that, the SNP would have lost its two best weapons: distraction and victimhood. When the heat is on, the SNP pushes the question of another referendum centre stage.
To be fair, they have right on their side.........