The brass neck hypocrisy of Burnham’s No. 10

When a No. 10 spokesperson recently declared that “Andy understands why some politicians don’t want to face up to the reality that Brexit has not delivered what they once promised,” it was a statement dripping with such monumental irony that it could float an oil tanker.

Here we have Downing Street acknowledging that a monumental constitutional choice, built upon a foundation of political fairy tales, has left the UK high and dry.

Yet, while Labour politicians feel quite entitled to bemoan a decade of Brexit-induced drift and demand a rethink because 10-year old promises turned out to be as illusory as a Starbucks at the summit of Ben Nevis, Scotland is told to sit quietly in the corner and lump it when it comes to 12-year old anti-independence promises.

The double standard here is staggering. and is the height of hypocrisy to argue that Brexit can be revisited on the basis of broken promises from a decade ago, while Scottish independence cannot – despite a veritable avalanche of broken pledges by the anti-independence campaign during the 2014 referendum.

Cast your minds back to the great constitutional panic of 2014, when the panic-stricken architects of Westminster control scrambled to protect their precious ring of power by the Thames.

Back then, voters were fed a diet of promises so rich they would clog up a cholesterol-monitoring machine. Anti-independence figureheads insisted that the only way to safeguard Scotland’s place in the European Union was to vote ‘No’.

On social media the official anti-independence campaign declared that all of its constituent parties supported continued membership of the European Union.

The Tory leader in Scotland pledged that , “No means we stay in, we are members of the European Union.”

Meanwhile a future Scottish Labour leader guaranteed that the best way to stay in the EU was by voting ‘No’ in the referendum.

And the then LibDem Secretary of State, in the coalition government with the Tories, reaffirmed that the leaders of the three main Westminster parties were ‘completely committed’ to remaining part of Europe.

And it does not stop at Europe as the catalogue of deceit spans every corner of ordinary people’s lives.

Promises of lower energy bills and cheaper food prices seem like a juvenile wind-up that can now be ignored, as Scots face ever increasing costs to heat their homes and feed their families.

The pledge of every Scot being £1,400 better off every year after a ‘No’ vote with mountains of hotdogs washed down with lashings of cappuccinos, feels like an invitation from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’s child catcher.

To compound this democratic double standards, the anti-independence campaign’s signed pledge that Scotland retained the power to decide its future and be in a partnership of equals, has instead seen powers taken from Scotland and promised funds being kept back like pocket money from a miserly parent.

This is rank hypocrisy – whinging over the broken vows of the ‘Leave’ campaign while ignoring those of the ‘No’ campaign.

Trying to lock the door on Scotland’s right to reassess its own future after a litany of shattered anti-independence campaign vows is breathtaking double standards.

If a breach of trust is a legitimate reason to revisit a referendum decision 10 years ago, it is similarly so, if not moreso, for Scotland considering the Scottish Parliament has had increasing independence majorities since 2014 .

The consequences of 2014’s broken promises affect every household facing soaring bills and democratic sidelining but the Westminster politicians think they can treat voters like weans and get away with it.

All Andy Burnham and his No. 10 staff have proved that it is time for Scotland throw off the smothering blanket of Westminster’s double standards, take control of its own destiny, and chart a course with a fairer, independent future.