What, if anything, has changed? The answer is both very little and a lot.
A lot because UK prime ministers tend to brush off calls for another independence referendum with a “now is not the time” sort of answer.
They usually stress that there are more important things to deal with at this point.
Andy Burnham has previously been more emphatic in telling John Swinney that the issue was “off limits”.
Then in a brief exchange at prime minister’s questions by drawing a parallel with Northern Ireland, he has appeared to open the door to further discussion about a formal agreement on the circumstances in which a further referendum could be considered.
I cannot remember any previous prime minister speaking in similar terms.
That’s the difference but it changes very little in reality.
Andy Burnham is unlikely to agree to discussing a formal mechanism for another independence referendum in Scotland.
It was already clear that driving up support for such a course and the likelihood of a “yes” outcome is what the SNP and other independence supporters would need to achieve.
Andy Burnham has simply acknowledged that to be the case and inadvertently given nationalists a some encouragement in the process.
