Anthony Barnett (London, OK): There is an end of political season must read by Iain MacWhirter in the Glasgow Herald - a lyrical paean to both Salmond and Brown. The two have surprised us, are at the top of their games, and have lifted British politics to a new level, one we feared we did not deserve. “I feel more positive about our political culture and leadership now than I can recall in almost three decades". You get the picture. He makes a brilliant comparative point. England, tired of flashy, risk-loving politics, wanted a more sober leader. But Scotland, depressed by decades of political caution even after independence was longing for the chutzpa Salmond has provided.
On the latter, MacWhirter says Scotland has its “first great political leader in 300 years…. The First Minister has shown tactical genius and real political courage… Salmond's sense of destiny marks him out from other Scottish political figures of the modern age. He is the real deal; the first genuine political leader in Scottish democratic history”. But if both the PM and the FM are “right for their times” in their respective capitals, as MacWhirter claims, can they both be right? The central project of one is to save and recreate the Union, the other is determined to end it. There may be little logic in politics, but logically the two Scottish Titans are heading for a mighty showdown.
