Referendum in Scotland

A new sign of disarray within the government appeared in the last few days, this time from Edinburgh. The Labour leader in Scotland, Wendy Alexander, announced a U-turn in her party's policy towards the idea of a referendum on independence in Scotland. The aim of the SNP, in power in Holyrood since 2007, is to organise such a referendum in 2010. Until now, Labour, like the (weak) Conservative party in Scotland, had opposed it strongly. Suddenly, W. Alexander claimed that the voters should have their say as early as possible. The reason for this apparent change of opinion is that Scottish Labour is confident voters would decide against independence now (according to opinion polls), but might change their minds in the future if the SNP government remains popular and if the Conservatives win the next general election in Westminster. But it seems that Gordon Brown, himself a Scot of course, was not consulted and disapproves strongly of this initiative - new evidence of his weakening grip on his own party.