Jon Bright (London, OK): Internal contradictions, anomalies and unfairnesses, like those which characterise Britain's current constitutional makeup, need not necessarily be fatal to a system, if people are willing to ignore. But they do create weak spots - whose presence will only be felt when pressure is put upon them. The unfinished devolution settlement which Labour served up post 1997 therefore doesn't put the Union in trouble by the mere fact of its existence - but the West Lothian question and all the other questions it threw up provide points of weakness that can be exploited by those who want more (eg federalism) or want to break up Britain.
Alex Salmond (who is aiming for 2017) is way ahead of the field when it comes to the latter. Iain Martin, in the Telegraph today, points out how his council tax freeze will sound in England:
Imagine how this will play: the hard-pressed English get higher bills and pay more in taxes so that Scots can get lower bills. The SNP leader means to win more support north of the border, of course, but most of all he wants to cause trouble for a Prime Minister he delights in winding up.
Salmond has removed the pin and rolled a nationalist hand grenade across the floor in the direction of Gordon Brown.
Meanwhile Philip Davies chucked a small grenade of his own when he tabled an EDM yesterday calling on Brown to renounce the Scottish Claim of Right - arguing, not unreasonably, that his declaration that in all his actions the interests of the Scottish people should be "paramount" is incompatible with him being Prime Minister of the UK (thanks to Gareth for both the above).
For now Brown will deal with both of these explosions in the old way - by largely trying to ignore them. The time may be coming when he needs to seek a more active solution.
