UNFORTUNATELY, the idea of a second Scottish Referendum has reared its head once again.

Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of the Scottish Parliament, has suggested that there should be a rerun of the referendum on Scottish independence, and it should be next autumn.

You won’t be surprised to hear that in my view this would be the entirely wrong thing to happen.

There was (to use the SNP’s own phrase) a 'once in a generation' vote in 2014.

This produced a clear decision – with a majority of Scots voting not to destroy our 300-year-old country.

Almost all polling since suggests that the people of Scotland have not changed their minds, and that they are unlikely to do so if presented with yet another vote.

Indeed, the polls show that there is no appetite for a referendum at all, let alone for a separated Scotland.

So, what is going on?

Well, I’m afraid it is all a game of politics.

The sad fact is that the SNP have concentrated so much of their energy on another referendum and bashing the rest of the UK that they have forgotten about their own domestic policy.

Education, health, local government, and the economy have all started to seriously deteriorate in Scotland – all under an SNP government of nearly 14 years.

The government in Edinburgh want to distract everyone from the problems there, and instead concentrate entirely on constitutional issues and divisive politics. 

But what could this mean for Carlisle and Cumbria? We too would be affected by another referendum and the possibility of an independent Scotland.

What people often forget is that this issue is not just about Scotland.

The rest of the UK would be hugely affected. In my view, if Scottish nationalists were to succeed in separating our nations it would be hugely detrimental to both sides.

People from Carlisle travel, work, and visit Scotland on a daily basis – and vice-versa. They do this because it is their right to visit and work in what is their own country.

We should never forget that it is the separatist agenda to turn four peoples who consider each other brothers and sisters under one flag into foreign citizens of one another.

At the moment this is all incidental. The UK Government position is that there will not be another referendum. I believe this is right – constitutionally, legally, and politically.

It will, I am sure, be the case until the next General Election and so on if the Conservative and Unionist Party remains in government.

The SNP government, however, will almost certainly play games by trying to look in to illegally carrying out a referendum. Anything to distract from their own domestic record and internal strife.

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