John Osmond (Cardiff, IWA): It is said that when the Queen crosses the Scottish border she is transmuted from being an Episcopalian into a Presbyterian - being simultaneously head of two different churches. Gordon Brown is in an analogous, and equally uncomfortable position. When in England he is fond of being British; when in Scotland he will insist on being Scottish. But I'm afraid that Brown doesn't get it: the days are over when you can have it both ways in identity politics within the UK.
It is possible in future for us to imagine being British in terms of recast citizenship rights within a confederal set of relationships between the nations of the British Isles - perhaps even extending to the Republic of Ireland, though at this range that seems unlikely. But already, since the referendums that dissolved the sovereignty of the UK Parliament and established new assemblies in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, we live in a Union State and not a Nation State. Certainly in Scotland and Wales we are presently building state institutions as a ribcage for our respective nationalities. For example, the 'One Wales' coalition agreement between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Labour Party (likely to be ratified by party conferences this weekend) speaks of exploring the devolution of criminal justice to Wales and the creation of a separate Welsh jurisdiction.
Brown's motivation in launching his constitutional debate is to shore up Britain as a nation rather than a place where the different nations of the British Isles come together to collaborate on matters of mutual interest. If it was the latter he would be committing to proportional representation for elections to the House of Commons, and transforming the House of Lords into a chamber whose essential function would be to represent the nations within a radically reconstructed confederal constitution.
