Yesterday was the news that Keir Starmer has agreed to have a face-to-face meeting with John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, following the SNP’s strong performance in the local elections. Swinney said that Starmer had agreed over the phone that they would discuss holding another referendum on independence. No. 10 has a slightly different recollection of the call – saying that Starmer made it clear that he would not support another referendum.

Nonetheless it would seem that a narrative has arisen that, as Swinney puts it, ‘the momentum is building behind Scotland’s right to decide’. ‘Plaid Cymru and SNP wins leave the UK under threat,’ says GB News. ‘Wales and Scotland turn to independence parties,’ says the Financial Times. It is not just the SNP who are seeking to make capital from these gains. Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill said:

The Labour party has simply collapsed in Wales and Scotland as it has in England

The Labour party has simply collapsed in Wales and Scotland as it has in England

I don’t think there can be any........

© The Spectator