Scotland: Not Just Another Euro Vote

It would be difficult to pick out which side has emerged from the EU membership debate as victor; it seems to have ended in a stalemate, which falls short of providing absolute clarity to those not in the chattering classes. Both sides have had their wins and losses, with the No campaign forcing an SNP back-down on claims of automatic entry to the EU. But the SNP has been able to claim two things; that the UK government’s appointed experts, Allan Boyle and James Crawford, acknowledged the timescale of negotiated membership set by the Scottish Government as a reasonable timetable and that the UK government was responsible for the uncertainty as it continues to refuse, as the current member state, to ask for the advice from the European Commission which would illuminate the debate.