Andy Burnham's apparent gaffe during a question time appearance, in which he described Scotland and Northern Ireland as being in "exactly the same" constitutional position on holding a referendum, has been seized upon by the SNP and other nationalist parties as effectively conceding Scotland's right to a future independence vote. Downing Street scrambled to row back the comments, but commentator Stephen Daisley argues the episode shows the UK government urgently needs a clear, legally defined policy on independence referendums to prevent any minister inadvertently reopening the question again.

Daisley notes that First Minister John Swinney responded by writing to Downing Street to request talks on arranging another referendum, while Wales' Rhun ap Iorwerth and Northern Ireland's Michelle O'Neill were reportedly preparing to meet him in Cardiff to jointly demand the devolution of referendum powers. The article weighs possible legal fixes, including adopting the Northern Ireland-style trigger (a referendum whenever the Scottish Secretary judges a Yes vote likely, with a seven-year bar after a No) and a Canada-style "Clarity Act", which lets Ottawa's parliament assess the legitimacy of any independence vote after the fact — an approach Daisley says would be undemocratic if applied retrospectively at Westminster.