The confirmation of Nicola Sturgeon as the new leader of the Scottish National Party came as no surprise.
Nobody stood against her.
Nor should it be any surprise that her appointment brought an abrupt end to and southern,- ie English,- notion that the independence referendum had settled that little matter for "at least a generation".
As a democrat in the true EU, -for that is who Scotland seeks to bow to rather than the lot in England,-mould, Ms Sturgeon's theme is that having got the wrong answer on this occasion it's only a matter of time until the electorate is invited to vote again and this time get it right. Right that is for her party who only won in the heavily populated but geographically tiny Glasgow, western Clyde-Forth Valley and Dundee enclaves.
This time she is up and running with the theme that if the wicked English don't unconditionally deliver whatever she interprets as them, under the ad hoc default leadership of the Scottish giveaway maestro Gordon Brown, having promised in the chaotic runup to referendum day, there is a real prospect of a unilateral declaration of independence.
This wasn't a good start for Scotland or anyone else. She is saying that if a party (SNP) were to declare in its manifesto that independence is their objective, then win that election and then hold another referendum, that's it, the deed is done. Presumably she is talking about the Scottish parliament here. She fails to understand that this august body has no more power to declare independence from the United Kingdom than does the smallest Parish Council. It is simply not in the list of devolved powers. Apart from anything else the lady has some reading to do. If she's no time for that she could just ask a first year Scottish university law student for guidance on this constitutional point.
Clearly Ms Sturgeon's offering to the people of Scotland is aggravation as before. She and her party don't love the English and never will but to obsessively persue the separatist goal is debilitating to both Scotland and the larger entity of which it is part. If the SNP were to get on with the business of using the extensive powers the country already has to make it a glittering example of the socialist paradise it promises, the nationalists might have a better chance of persuading those who voted "No"that there might be something in "Yes" after all. Until then...................
