Holyrood vs. Westminster: A Scottish Independence Special Edition

Inside Briefing with the Institute for Government

Institute for Government

News, Government, Politics

4.5 • 278 Ratings

🗓️ 18 December 2019

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

PODCAST EXTRA: As the SNP sweeps Scotland in the General Election, can the Union survive? And with Holyrood and Westminster on a collision course, will Nicola Sturgeon’s demands for another referendum be impossible for Boris Johnson to rebuff? The IfG has just released its most detailed report yet into possible roads to IndyRef2 and potential fallout of another vote. On this special podcast its co-authors Akash Paun and Jess Sargeant – plus eminent legal commentator Joshua Rozenberg and Kevin Schofield, editor of PoliticsHome – look into how Scotland might get to vote again, and the unforeseen consequences for the whole UK. What happens if Nicola Sturgeon’s mandate clashes with Boris Johnson’s? If Westminster won’t relent, could we see a Catalonian-style ‘unofficial’ referendum, civil disobedience or even UDI? And even an independent Scottish currency? And a tour of the possible flashpoints: Brexit, the WAB, trade, agriculture, the trial of Alex Salmond, and fish. Listen closely. This could be the big crisis of 2020. “The future of the union is not devolved to Scotland. It’s a matter for the United Kingdom.” – Joshua Rosenberg “Brexit has been a massive recruiting sergeant for the SNP.” – Kevin Schofield “Scotland would wants to rejoin the EU. What we don’t know is, does the EU want Scotland?” – Joshua Rosenberg Hosted by Bronwen Maddox with Akash Paun and Jess Sargeant plus guests Joshua Rozenberg and Kevin Schofield. Audio production by Alex Rees. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Inside Briefing Extra, a special edition of the Institute for Government podcast.
0:15.2	I'm Bronwyn Maddox. The general election result has provided some answers, but also posed many complicated questions.
0:22.1	And this podcast is going to take a close look at what may prove to be the biggest question of the lot.
0:27.2	Will the United Kingdom still exist by the time the next general election is called?
0:32.2	Boris Johnson's majority of 80 means he will get Brexit done.
0:35.7	But the night produced a second big winner.
0:38.0	The Scottish National Party won 48 out of 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons. We knew what was
0:43.2	coming next, because its leader Nicholas Surgeon had told us the party promptly came out again
0:47.9	with its demand for a second referendum on Scottish independence. And that is just going to
0:53.2	get louder and louder and louder.
0:56.2	But the Prime Minister has said no, no way, not within the five years of this Parliament.
1:00.8	Will a blunt refusal to grant that vote be enough to ease the pressure?
1:04.0	If not, how is this referendum going to take place?
1:07.2	And if Scotland did vote for independence, then what?
1:10.3	To help make sense of a question
1:11.6	which is a big part of what we'll all be talking about next year, I'm joined on today's special
1:15.9	podcast by Akash Pown, senior fellow at the IFG, and later in the program, Jess Sargent,
1:20.8	a researcher at the Institute who's been working with him. They're the joint authors of our
1:24.0	brand new report on a second Scottish referendum, which we published the day
1:27.9	after the election, just as the results became clear.
1:31.5	Agash, you've been writing and thinking about devolution in the UK for the best part of a decade.
1:35.9	Does it feel as if we're at the end of the story or just the beginning?
	...

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