THE former Tory prime minister John Major has claimed the Covid-19 crisis will make it “much more difficult for the Scottish nationalists” to win a referendum – despite a succession of recent polls putting Yes ahead.
Major, a Unionist who has previously claimed that Scottish independence would be disastrous, was speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning.
As well as claiming the economic consequences of the pandemic will make the indy argument tougher to win, Major called on the UK Government to work harder to reconnect with “the way Scots think and act” to promote Unionism.
READ MORE: Support for Scottish independence soars to 54 per cent
The former Tory leader was asked about the direction he sees the UK moving in the aftermath of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
The presenter asked him: “In some ways we’ve seen different parts of the United Kingdom, different countries, moving in different directions and different speeds over coronavirus measures. How do you see the future?”
Major replied: “Well the priority in the future is, in my mind, to keep the United Kingdom as a single entity. I think every part of it is better off within the United Kingdom than if they split off for a range of complex reasons that I and many other people will have made clear in the past.
“So I think as policy develops, it would be much more difficult for the Scottish nationalists for example to win a referendum in the short-term because of the economic difficulties that they too will face as a result of Covid. In that period I think the UK Government should work very hard to try and reconnect to a greater extent with the way the Scots think and act and try and persuade away the arguments for breaking away from the United Kingdom.”
In 2014 Major was staunchly committed to the No campaign – and more recently has acknowledged that Brexit is making Scottish independence more likely to happen in his lifetime.
However his claims this morning come following a clear upwards trend in support for an independent Scotland.
Last week a Panelbase poll revealed support for Yes has jumped to 54%, with an increasing number of Labour voters now willing to support self-determination. The previous poll on independence, coming just a few weeks prior, put backing for Yes at 52%.
Sunday’s survey was the fifth Panelbase poll to ask about independence this year so far – those results have found Yes support to be at 52%, 49%, 50%, 52% and now 54%.
SNP depute leader Keith Brown said there was “growing and majority” support for independence.
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