FORMER First Minister Henry McLeish believes the union is broken and a second independence referendum is inevitable after the unveiling of the “reckless” hard Brexit.
He claimed it was now “embarrassing” to be British and that Theresa May’s Tory Government's plan to leave the single market is pushing Scots towards 'indyref2'.
McLeish voted against independence in 2014, a position he said he has not changed despite Scotland facing the prospect of being dragged out of the EU and the single market against its will.
However, he warned that the Tories ignoring Scotland and Northern Ireland's vote to remain could make moves towards a second independence referendum unstoppable. Asked whether the union was now broken, following May's Hard Brexit speech last week, McLeish, said: "Yes" and that it was a potential "game changer".
He said that the Tory government faced the prospect of presiding over the "break-up of Britain", with an approach which risked turning the UK into the 51st state of the USA.
"The behaviour of Theresa May is pushing Scotland further away from the union," he said "and the emerging English nationalism is going to hugely irritate people and make them think very seriously about what direction they want to go in.
"Scotland is being ignored by the Tories at Westminster and it may be the case that Scots will now look at things in a different way. They are saying to Scotland and Northern Ireland your views are not being taken seriously. There is no effective union because of this.
"It will not be the actions of the SNP or the Scottish Government that will lead to another independence referendum. It will be the behaviour of Theresa May and the reckless self harm that is Brexit that will drive Scots towards a second independence referendum", saying there was "an inevitability of that given what Theresa May is pushing Scots towards"
McLeish, who was First Minister from 2000 to 2001, went on, "Theresa May's Brexit was a bitter disappointment and was confirmation that hard Brexit has a number of very serious implications for Scotland.
"Under the current UK Tory government it's now embarrassing to be British and we now have no effective union of the UK. We'll have a vote in the UK parliament, but it will have no significance and there's no representation from Scotland and Northern Ireland whatsoever.
"It's a recipe for chaos and a recipe to further the break-up of Britain."
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