The FT reports that the £ reached a new high level “as prospects for a new early referendum on Scottish independence dimmed.” This might strike you as very odd after panic hit the London media at the news of the inevitable SNP victory on Friday. Just as weird was the desperate consolation sought in the fact that the SNP failed to win an absolute majority by a single vote. I just don’t get that; they’re home and dry with the support of the Greens. The falling short is purely token. Clearly the markets dislike the uncertainty likely to be created by another Indyref campaign. The shock of first reactions in London means that Westminster realises at last that they may have a problem in Scotland. Do Johnson and the Tories care? The same question occurs as for Northern Ireland. He is secure beyond his wildest dreams or rather the nightmare of even a week ago when he seemed drowning in a tide of petty scandal. Great Britain ( certainly not NI), is now looking split under three different convincing mandates, Labour in Wales, the SNP in Scotland and the Tories in England , all mutually exclusive.
Former BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London
