by Rab Bruce’s Spider

It’s sometimes hard to remain positive when you look at the state of UK politics. Much has already been said and written about the likelihood of Boris Johnson being our next Prime Minister, and there’s not really much to add to the copious examples of his unsuitability for the role, nor of the ludicrous situation where the people who elect him to that position are so unrepresentative of the UK population.

Add to this awful prospect the fact that the Brexit Party is so popular in England and it’s easy to despair.

The outcome of all this is very likely to be that the UK will crash out of the EU at the end of October. There is no prospect at all of a better deal being negotiated by that time, so the only real options are a further extension which the EU may not wish to grant, revoking Article 50 which Johnson would find difficult to justify to his adoring masses, or leaving with no deal. The UK was warned not to waste the time granted by the last extension but, as many predicted, is doing precisely that.

As for all the talk of suspending Parliament to ensure the crash out, the way they are frittering away the weeks means that is not necessary. Parliament has repeatedly missed opportunities to prevent a no deal exit and it is difficult to see how that situation will alter given the pro-Brexit stance of the two major Parties.

So the big question is how long Scotland can put up with this? Perhaps many Scots will need the shock of Brexit to appreciate just what is being taken away from them. The problem is that it may well be too late by then. The UK Government is vastly expanding its presence in Scotland, with thousands of new staff and plush new offices in Edinburgh, including a Cabinet meeting room for the UK Government. The warning signs are all there. The Tories detest devolution and are gearing up to neuter the Scottish Government, perhaps even to abolish it. With Boris Johnson at the helm, who knows how quickly they will move to impose direct rule from Westminster?

So can we really afford to wait until late 2020 for IndyRef2? The SNP, as usual, are being cautious, and that is understandable, but they run the risk of being so cautious their chance may disappear.