By Rab Bruce’s Spider

So David Cameron says a vote for Brexit could trigger another Scottish IndieRef? Don’t get too excited, folks. This is the same man who ruled out a second IndieRef only a few months ago. Of course, he’s entitled to change his mind when the facts change but the only fact that has changed is that he is in danger of losing the EURef and his position as PM.

It’s not as if we have become accustomed to Call Me Dave telling the truth on anything at all, let alone the breakup of the UK. So his comment must be regarded as nothing more than a deliberate, unscrupulous ploy to frighten English voters into sticking with the status quo.

But if we can discount Cameron’s claim as cynical scaremongering, we should also ask ourselves why he thinks this prospect should scare so many people. He can’t have been aiming the remark at Scottish Unionists because, quite frankly, there probably aren’t enough of them to greatly influence a UK-wide vote. So he must have been addressing English voters who, for some reason, are worried by the thought that Scotland might leave their precious Union.

There can surely be only two reasons for this. One is that these voters know that Scotland has been subsidising the UK for decades and they fear the economic consequences of losing that funding. However, given that the Scottish subsidy myth is alive and well in England, this seems an unlikely reason.

Which, I believe, leaves only BritNat pride. Cameron must be banking on the fact that the loss of Scotland would be such a blow to English pride that the mere thought of it will scare voters into supporting his call for a Remain vote.

In other words, nothing has really changed since the IndieRef. Scotland is still viewed as part of greater England and Cameron will say anything in order to persuade people to vote the way he wants. I don’t know about anyone else, but I find it impossible to trust a word he utters.