If you believe as I do that political stupidity deserves to be punished, you might take satisfaction from the election results in Scotland. But first, a little history. Almost three decades ago Labour set up the Scottish parliament, promising voters that ‘the Union will be strengthened and the threat of separatism removed’. Just eight years into the devolution experiment, the once seemingly invincible Scottish Labour lost control of its parliament to the SNP. That was in 2007 and the Nationalists have been in power ever since, relegating Labour to the fringes of Scottish politics. 

Then, in 2010, the Conservatives came to power. They had opposed the creation of a Scottish parliament, predicting that it would become a bulwark of nationalism and undermine the Union, and so were well-placed to bring an end to Tony Blair’s constitutional misadventure. But the Conservatives believe in conserving things, and given the choice between a 300-year-old Union steeped in history and an 11-year-old job-creation scheme for spads, third-sector activists, and overly ambitious councillors, the party of tradition naturally went with the latter. 

Labour and the Conservatives designed this monster, gave it life, made it all-powerful

Labour and the Conservatives designed this monster, gave it life, made it all-powerful

In 2012, the Cameron government devolved a tranche of additional powers to the SNP-controlled legislature, and then in 2014, they gave the Nationalists a referendum on independence. In 2016, as a consolation prize for losing said referendum, they devolved yet........

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