Nigel Farage is being credited for getting a big Brexit prediction right – albeit not in the way he thought.
On the day the referendum results were revealed in 2016 the former UKIPer told supporters that “dawn is breaking on an independent United Kingdom”.
He said the Leave campaign had won a victory for “real people”, and said 23rd June should go down as “independence day”.
But following a historic win in Northern Ireland for Sinn Fein, the UK could be in line for plenty of independence, just not in the way Farage initially thought.
Nicola Sturgeon said victory for a nationalist party in Stormont raises “big questions” around the future of the UK “as a political entity”, pointing to strong nationalist performances in her own country and in Wales, too, where the Tories had their worst fears confirmed.
“If (Sinn Fein) emerge as the largest party today in Northern Ireland which looks very likely, that will be an extraordinary result and something that seemed impossible not that long ago,” she said.
“There’s no doubt there are big fundamental questions being asked of the UK as a political entity right now.
“They’re being asked here in Scotland, they’re being asked in Northern Ireland, they’re being asked in Wales and I think we’re going to see some fundamental changes to UK governance in the years to come and I am certain one of those changes is going to be Scottish independence.”
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