Majority of Scots wants to leave the UK
According to a new survey, more than half of Scots would now vote for independence from the UK. In a referendum in 2014 they voted by a slim majority in favour of staying inside the United Kingdom. Brexit and the London government's controversial coronavirus policy are considered to be the reasons for the increased support for independence. Is the end of the UK looming?
Veritable Covid nationalism
The Spectator alleges that by bringing into play a quarantine for people travelling from England, Scottish head of government Nicola Sturgeon is intentionally stoking nationalist and separatist tendencies:
“Scotland may be at risk of developing a new strain of chauvinism – Covid nationalism – that hides old prejudices behind the imprimatur of a public health rationale. It is no longer acceptable to say in polite company that the English are oppressors but what of casting them as infectors? Eradicating coronavirus is properly the chief priority of government but when government speaks about it foolishly or carelessly or even slyly it threatens to give birth to another virus entirely.”
Catalonia scenario looming for the UK
Ria Novosti thinks it possible that a new referendum on independence could be held even against London's will:
“So far Johnson has sworn that he will not permit it. He, the political child of Brexit, remembers only too well the fate of his two predecessors who were brought down by referendums. But for [Scottish Prime Minister Nicola] Sturgeon, this vote is indispensable as a policy tool for retaining power. That is why Scottish nationalists are talking about the need for a new referendum, regardless of whether London agrees or not. That would mean that the Scots would be taking the same path as Catalonia, where a referendum on independence not recognised by the Spanish government was held two years ago. That would lead to a political impasse and inevitably to a serious national crisis.”