Andy Burnham needs to stop opening the door to another independence referendum.
We have already had this argument.
In 2014, 85 per cent of eligible voters chose for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom.
That decision should not simply be ignored because the Scottish National Party disliked the result.
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Yet Mr Burnham blundered through a response in the House of Commons on Wednesday, suggesting if enough people support independence, another referendum could be put back on the table.
That is the wrong approach.
He has since clarified his position to say IndyRef2 is “off limits”, but a Prime Minister – even one as wet behind the ears as Mr Burnham – should know better than to kick the hornets’ nest like that.
A better response to the SNP’s Chris Law would have been to hit back with a staunch defence of the union that binds us and a reminder the constitutional question has already been settled for a generation.
There will always be political pressure from the SNP for another vote. That is hardly a surprise. Independence is the central purpose of the nationalist movement and its leaders will keep demanding another referendum whenever they think the political circumstances suit them.
But if Westminster simply says “If the numbers get high enough, we’ll think about it,” then the independence question never actually goes away. It becomes a permanent campaign.
Every election from here on out becomes another supposed mandate. Every opinion poll becomes another excuse. Every political roadblock becomes another opportunity to claim that Scotland should leave the UK.
That is not good for Scotland and the rest of the UK.
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We should be talking about jobs, the National Health Service, schools, economic growth, investment and the cost of living – not allowing the nationalists to constantly drag Scotland back into another exhausting constitutional argument.
The UK is not some temporary arrangement, with its future decided every few years, dictated at regular intervals by the latest SNP leader’s political fortunes.
And that right there is the crux of the matter.
The demand for another referendum is not being driven by some great constitutional emergency; it’s being driven by a political party that has made breaking up the UK its defining objective.
After two decades in power, the SNP should be judged on its record in government.
Scots deserve answers about why public services are under such pressure. They deserve a Government focused on improving education, growing the economy and tackling the problems facing communities.
Instead, whenever the pressure mounts, the constitutional question is wheeled back out to rally the troops.
That cannot be allowed to become Scotland’s permanent political cycle or its defining political identity.
If Andy Burnham genuinely believes in the Union, he needs to say so clearly.
Because saying IndyRef2 is off the table while leaving a big enough loophole for a reignited debate is not defending the Union.
It is carelessly opening the door to breaking it up.
And once that door is open, the SNP will keep pushing to get through it.
There is nothing unreasonable about defending the result of the 2014 referendum. In fact, it should be the starting point for any serious discussion about Scotland’s constitutional future.
The people of Scotland were asked a clear question and gave a clear answer.
They chose to remain part of the United Kingdom and that decision should continue to earn the full backing of the UK Government at all times.
Of course, people are entitled to change their minds, but that does not mean Scotland should be condemned to hold referendum after referendum until the SNP eventually gets the answer it wants.
That would make a mockery of the idea that referendums settle questions.
Scotland said no in 2014 – and that decision should be respected.
The SNP needs to stop looking for the next referendum and start concentrating on the day job.
After all, before demanding the power to break up the UK, perhaps they should demonstrate what they can do with the powers they already have.
On that front, there is plenty of room for improvement.
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