Political Focus

In a week set to be dominated by a slew of corporate earnings, yesterday’s news served up a number of political stories worth noting. Of course the top story for the day was the UK’s Supreme Court ruling in favour of Parliament having the final say on Brexit by 8 votes to 3. That’s not really a surprise though – indeed Prime Minister Theresa May had already committed herself to let Parliament vote on the final package. With the ruling out of the way, the government has reiterated its call to present the Brexit bill and trigger Article 50 by the end of March.

Not Just Brexit

Of greater interest though is the fact that the Supreme Court judges unanimously rejected the argument that Theresa May must also consult regional administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland before triggering Article 50. That may help Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s call for reinvigorating the Scottish independence debate. In a statement following the Supreme Court ruling, the leader of the Scottish National Party said:

“It is becoming clearer by the day that Scotland’s voice is simply not being heard or listened to within the UK.”

The current scenario is not exactly conducive for another referendum on independence – the economy is not performing as well as Britain overall, the oil industry which was supposed to be the cornerstone of Scotland’s economic resurgence is on very shaky ground and polls haven’t shifted substantially since 2014, when the “Remain” vote won 55% to 45%.

Any decisive move towards a second referendum would have consequences outside the British Isles. A vote to leave the UK (you’d think the “Leave” vote would win second time round) and join/remain in the EU could prompt other regions such as Catalonia in Spain to push for independence.

Schulz Returns

Back to the continent where former MEP and European Parliament President Martin Schulz is leaving Brussels and returning to Germany as the new leader of the Social Democratic Party, or SPD. Political analysts in Germany say this could be a bit of a spanner in the works for Angela Merkel’s fourth term as Chancellor, as she and her Christian Democrat party (CDU) now have a worthy opponent in the centre-right arena. Despite this it is highly unlikely the SPD can garner enough supporters to govern without some kind of grand coalition with at least 2 other parties.