Independence for Scotland?

The Guardian calls the announcement by Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander that a referendum on independence for Scotland will be held within the next 12 months the biggest blunder in British politics in recent times: "One thing is now certain - there will be a referendum on whether the British political state should cease to exist, probably in 2010. That, of course, is also the probable date for the next general election. That coincidence of dates underlines just what a gamble Labour in Scotland is taking. ... The referendum therefore offers the Scots a neat way of escaping a Tory government - leave the union. ... And if Labour is deprived of its Scottish contingent it seems unlikely that the party will form a majority in the rest of the UK for years to come."

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