During the initial post-war years in the Sovietoccupied zone of Germany, when hopes of a return to democracy were being extinguished, when the social democrats were forced to “merge” with the communists, and when even conservative and liberal politicians were compelled to swear allegiance to Marxism-Leninism, I dare say there may have been a plaintive cry from some quarter of “but this is completely unsustainable!” It’s always a great mistake to confuse the morally unjustifiable with something that can’t and won’t happen.
Of course Boris Johnson can keep saying no to an independence referendum if we’re passive and tacitly accept that he has a binding veto. He can crush us in a million other ways too, for example by removing yet more powers from the Scottish Parliament or abolishing it altogether. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll do any or all of those things - it’s actually possible to imagine tactical reasons why he might eventually agree to a Section 30 (with heavy conditions attached), but we’d be naive in the extreme to imagine that’s inevitable or that endlessly chanting the word “unsustainable” can somehow seal the deal. We need a Plan B up our sleeves to cover the perfectly conceivable scenario in which our opponents attempt to defeat us by undemocratic means. And, as it happens, the wider electorate agrees. A recent Panelbase poll commissioned by my blog Scot Goes Pop found that 63% of the public think the Scottish Government should ensure voters are given a choice on independence over the course of the next parliament, if pro-indy parties win a majority of seats in May and the UK Government continues to refuse a Section 30 order. Just 37% think the Scottish Government should accept that Westminster has a veto.