Michael Keating

It is a year since Article 50 was triggered, starting a two-year negotiating period in which the withdrawal process was intended to be completed. In fact, it is only this month that the process has begun. This gives six months to complete it, given the need for ratification by the European and national parliaments.

Mariano Rajoy’s strategy has failed spectacularly.

Some time in the next two years, Scots will face another referendum on whether the United Kingdom should remain in the European Union. This issue has become deeply entangled with the question of Scotland’s place in the UK. Last year’s referendum was about independence-in-Europe and since the 1980s the EU has provided a vital external support system for proposals for Scottish independence.