Correction - the Scottish Government may call another referendum if the opinion polling continues to suggest a plurality for independence. That is the only concern of the SNP - whether they can win.
These 'negotiations' with Europe are just a cover to buy them time whilst they work out if this surge is a temporary thing caused by despair and shock over the referendum or not. If it is they will actually try negotiating and hope they can get some kind of deal.
However if this surge continues they will then declare that there is no hope of any deal being made - because they will never have actually tried very hard to get one - and demand a second vote on independence.
People still seem to assume that the SNP is obsessed with independence and nothing else. They have since proven themselves to be a very capable political party, with a coherent stand on the whole range of political issues. In fact, at present they seem to be the only major political party that is in any way united. Of course, they are unapologetic in their belief that independence is the best for Scotland, but they do act in a broader sense as well.
I think it is highly likely that independence will be on the table, in no small part due to the political leanings of the SNP. It is also the simplest option for Scotland's continued membership of the EU. I have no doubt that the Scottish Government will in fact explore all options on the table, however. If for no other reason than the need to fully understand the situation.
Which they may win, probably by a very small margin - and probably without every area of Scotland voting for independence - the areas that do not vote for independence will "then be dragged out of the union against their will".
Because for some reason Scotland is indivisible even though the United Kingdom is not.
Current opinion polling suggests that the margin for Scottish Independence would be much more comfortable than it was for the UK leaving the EU.
The thing you seem to fail to grasp is that Scotland is a country. There's a well established border between Scotland and England. We could go down the absurd route of making enclaves and exclaves, having a ridiculously complex border, but I don't think anyone would like that solution. But no-one is suggesting that the parts of England and Wales that voted to remain join Scotland or form their own country (The People's Republic of Warwick, perhaps?), the movement for London Independence aside.
Scotland is a country, with its own parliament and own legislature. People identify as Scottish. There is no precedent to divide Scotland, no interest in dividing Scotland and no suggestion of dividing Scotland.
Scotland has chosen a different route. Scotland as a whole strongly supports continued EU membership, as demonstrated in the referendum. The EU membership that was, apparently, conditional on our continued membership of the UK. The UK that Scotland voted to remain a part of is no more. As such, it is entirely reasonable that Scotland has a referendum on where we go from here - continued membership of the UK or continued membership of the EU (which appear to be mutually exclusive).
A supermajority should be placed on independence and every other referendum because whilst the nationalists can keep demanding votes until they get the result they want there will be no possibility of reversing independence once it occurs - so the nationalists will always win in the end. You will vote until you let them win.
This is a load of nonsense. A supermajority is a profoundly undemocratic. In a binary decision, 50%+1 constitutes a majority. That is the fairest way of doing things. It is ridiculous to suggest that one side needs more support than the other would in order to win. It must be remembered that in a referendum even the status quo are obliged to make their case, and should be afforded the same opportunity to do so. Mandating a supermajority gives them an unfair advantage.
The big thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is that whilst with Scotland in the UK it is likely that the UK will remain in the EEA - with all the trappings associated with that, if Scotland leaves it is almost certain that the rUK will take a harder line position and end up outside the single market - at which point Scotland is screwed because there will have to be a hard border with England.
rUK wanted nothing to do with Europe. What England and Wales want is up to England and Wales. I'd like an open border with rUK, but I'd much rather maintain our relationship with Europe. You have made another ridiculous assumption that Scotland would somehow be harmed by a hard border with England, but England would not. You forget, of course, that England also trades with Scotland. And with Ireland. And with the rest of the EU. If rUK's response to globalisation is crippling isolationism, then that's their decision. But don't pretend for a moment that England and Wales would not be harmed by a hard border with Scotland and the rest of the EU.
