Will the United Kingdom come apart? If the Scottish National Party attains its goal, it will. Breaking the Union has been its aim, its purpose, its reason for living: it is now closer to success than at any time in its 85-year-old history.
Nicola Sturgeon, the party leader, declared in October that she would ask for a second independence referendum within days of the December 12 election result. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that he would refuse the necessary permission: but she told her party conference in October that ‘the Westminster refusal is not sustainable … they know there is going to be a referendum’. She has talked of legal action to force the issue.
