This blog has a lot of respect for John Major. Described by Denis Thatcher as a ‘ghastly’ Prime Minister, his wife’s choice as her successor undoubtedly disappointed her. But he had a very difficult hand to play which included Black Wednesday, loads of negative equity and a Tory party split so badly down the EU faultline that he had to withdraw the whip from a gang of rebellious backbenchers and resign himself as Tory leader. He was only re-elected because he did a deal with Heseltine to share power. He then led the Tories into the biggest defeat in their history from which they have still not recovered. So he carries baggage for sure.
His intervention today with yet more frighteners about the SNP is a mistake. The endless Tory barrage about the dangers of the SNP is not only misconstrued but is also undermining the Union itself. Why should the Scots want to stay in a Union which constantly insults them? The threat to a Tory victory, which seems ever more remote, comes not from Nicola Sturgeon (the more seats she takes from Labour north of the border, the better for the Tories overall) but from UKIP and to some extent the Lib Dems in Conservative/Labour marginals. Much more attention should be paid to that theatre of operations rather than obsessing about Scotland.
Meanwhile Sturgeon is now acclaimed as the star and because of all the publicity she receives on Tory airtime, her party may well end up calling the tune. The problem for the Tories is that huge numbers of UK voters think that would be a very good thing.