No Iains, I don't say the referendum was advisory, the Referendum Bill itself says it was advisory only, and this was ratified by the High Court judgment in November.

Unfortunately, although anyone who cared to actually read the Bill would have been aware of it, it was not made clear to the electorate that it was 'advisory only', and the problem was compounded when the idiot Cameron made a promise which was not within his power to make. No politician, even the PM, can override a Bill passed by Parliament - sovereignty rests with Parliament, not with the PM.

Had the advisory nature of the Referendum been made absolutely clear prior to the vote, and given the tiny majority in the result - not far from a dead-heat - I can see no reason why there should have been a 'Catalonian outcome on steroids'.

And, of course, the terms of the referendum were seriously flawed. Had the idiot Cameron couched the Referendum Bill in the standard terms of reference for a referendum in the UK - i.e. requiring a 60/40 majority rather than a simple majority - the result would have been a victory for the Remain campaign.