The announcement came about 48 hours after US President Donald Trump waded into the waters of the politically contentious issue when he said he would “love to see” a reunified Ireland during a trip to visit his golf course hosting the Irish Open. It’s the first time the leaders of all three countries are either from pro-independence parties, or pro-unification in the case of Northern Ireland, which was partitioned and remained part of the UK when Ireland won independence from Britain over a century ago. Burnham’s spokesperson brushed aside the threat and said the Prime Minister strongly believes in the union and was more focused on lowering the cost of living than dealing with constitutional debates.

 

“The United Kingdom is at its best when people come together around our shared values and problem-solving, rather than division,” Tom Wells said. Beyond any threat of departing the union, McEwen said the greatest impact of the three joining forces could be that they agreed to cooperate with each other routinely and that could help to exert more influence on the UK Government. “It does keep on the agenda that question about, well, if the United Kingdom is a union based on consent, what is the pathway where it looks like that consent may no longer be there?” McEwen said. Burnham told Parliament last week he would allow such a vote to be held if there was a “clear consensus” in Scotland, but later sent Swinney a letter saying a vote was “off limits”.