THE Conservative party is very confident in its case that the interests of Scotland are best served by leaving them to Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and the rest of the English nationalist temper-tantrum that pleases itself to be called the British Government. They’re so confident that they don't want to talk about it or even acknowledge its existence.
This might be because most reasonable observers will by now have come to the conclusion that the British Government's case for the Union amounts to Union flag stickers, Great British being prefixed to TV reality show competitions and the assertion that Scotland has significant influence on the decisions of the British Government because Alister Jack is allowed to choose what biscuits are served with the tea and coffee every third cabinet meeting, and sometimes he picks shortbread from a tartan tin.
Just a few days ago we learned that Conservative ministers have been instructed not to mention the possibility of Scottish independence or another referendum in the hope that if they just stick their heads under the Union flag duvet and keep singing Rule Britannia, the whole subject might go away.
Now we learn that the British Government is refusing to say how many times its Union Strategy Committee has met since it was established in February. The Government has claimed it's not in the public interest to respond to a Freedom of Information request from The National asking how many times the committee has met and for details on what topics were discussed.
That silence means that there is no case for the Union that's going to convince anyone apart from the British nationalist zoomers on social media whose accounts are bedecked with Union flags to show how much they hate nationalism.
This piece is an excerpt from today's REAL Scottish Politics newsletter, which is emailed out at 7pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Wee Ginger Dug.
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