I, Maybot by John Crace

Author:John Crace [John Crace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783351442
Publisher: Guardian Faber Publishing
Published: 2017-11-23T05:00:00+00:00

On the afternoon of 22 March a 52-year-old British terrorist, Khalid Masood, drove into a group of pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing four people and injuring 49 others. Masood then ran through the main gates of the Palace of Westminster, where he killed PC Keith Palmer with a machete before being shot dead by armed police. The following day, parliament convened to hear the prime minister make a statement on the terrorist attack. In the past the prime minister had often managed to misjudge the big occasions, appearing to be lacking in both grace and warmth, but this time she was note-perfect: calm and informative; dignified with a hint of steel.

At the very same time the terrorist attack was taking place in London, the Scottish parliament in Holyrood was debating whether it should call for a second independence referendum. Once news of the scale of the attack reached Holyrood, the debate was halted. Just under a week later, it was reconvened and the tone of the debate was noticeably more conciliatory, with Nicola Sturgeon emphasising shared values, democracy and differences of opinion that were sincerely held.

Sturgeon also tried to keep things short and sweet. She had tried – my God she had tried – not to call for another independence referendum by begging Theresa to come to some kind of deal with Scotland. But Theresa had repeatedly snubbed her, refusing to even talk about the implications of Brexit for Scotland.

The Scottish Conservatives accused the SNP of political opportunism but the SNP had the necessary majority to win the vote by 69 to 59.

The following day, two days earlier than the prime minister’s self-imposed deadline of March 31st, Tim Barrow, Britain’s ambassador to the EU, delivered a letter formally triggering Article 50 to Donald Tusk, president of the EU Council.

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