“Tomorrow’s Holyrood election – for which more than 4.2 million people have registered to vote, the highest number yet recorded – has arguably frustrated Scotland’s politicians at least as much as the public on whom their futures depend.”
Scottish devolution
“You can ignore certain names when they appear in the headlines and endeavour to forget about them – a prospect Blair should welcome, but obviously fears – or you can remember that when Blair speaks, he does so from atop a mountain of corpses.”
Sean Bell: You don’t need to care what Tony Blair thinks – just remember what he is
“A new Act of Union… would not only curtail the future of Scottish democracy, but would dismantle Scottish democracy as it currently exists.”
Sean Bell: A new Act of Union would place the law and democracy at odds
“Findlay’s Devo Max option is wildly ill-conceived, taken from the perspective of his own political commitments to a more egalitarian, democratic and just society. His own Devo Max option is the perfect vehicle for elite interests.”
David Jamieson: ‘Devo Max’ might be the surest route to elite capture
“Those who ascribe sinister character to Scottish devolution say more about themselves than our current or future constitutional arrangement, and little of it is complimentary.”
Sean Bell: Boris Johnson fears political systems can determine political outcomes – with luck, we can prove him right
Devolution has been a “disaster” in Scotland, and was Tony Blair’s “biggest mistake”. Boris Johnson has only said what is almost certainly the quiet consensus in the British establishment, but it’s important that the words are now on record. I would wager that Blair thinks the same. You have to see devolution from the the […]
Johnson’s devolution comments are a sign of weakness
“Like the Catalan movement, Scots may face an allied UK and European apparatus increasingly disrespectful of democracy and focused on the interests of the already institutionally dominant.”
Analysis: Repression in Catalonia is a Spanish tradition – but it has lessons for us as well
“The increasingly dominant view within Tory unionism is that devolution has backfired, and its institutions have only provided a vehicle for the Union’s enemies. Why not engineer a conflict through which devolution might be undercut?”