Dave, devomax, and deception.....

Dave is peddling the line that he has the answer to the West Lothian question (which for the few uninitiated is ‘Why should Scottish MPs be allowed to vote on English-only matters when English MPs can’t vote on Scottish-only matters?’ posed by that wonderful trouble-maker, the sorely-missed Tam Dayiel).

He hasn’t.

The heart of the problem is that it is quite conceivable that a government in Westminster would have a majority on English-only matters but not on United Kingdom matters. Even a self-denying ordinance by Scottish MPs would not change that. The question can only be answered by creating an English Parliament. The UK would then have a federal system.


Heaven forfend!

The reality is that the English are not much bothered by arcane constitutional questions. What they manifestly do not want is a continuation of Government  from an elite clique populating the Westminster village, that is contemptuous of the people, arrogant, self-serving, and self-perpetuating. They want politicians who have at least some understanding of the lives of ordinary people, who can be trusted, and whose interests in their constituents extends beyond a General Election period.

The reason why UKIP will have a landslide in Clacton is because Douglas Carswell is an exceptional constituency MP who is widely known, gets things done, and is seen as a man of principle, a conviction politician, not a careerist or time-server. According to a recent poll, there may be a 64% swing to UKIP, the biggest ever in a by-election.

There could be more to come.

The people do not want years of tedious political debate on who-does-what. They want change, and on current predictions they are going to get it; it is now very likely that UKIP will win 4 or 5 seats next year. It is possible that when they see the size of the Clacton majority, more Tory MPs will do a Carswell.

But this mould-breaking was not started by UKIP.  It is Alex Salmond who should be thanked. He took over the SNP when it was on its last legs. He transformed it into the governing party in Scotland, demolishing the clammy one-party rule  of the Scottish Labour Party.

As for the Lib-Dems, it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that in the next Parliament Clegg and Cable will be Leader and Deputy leader.


As the only two Lib-Dem MPs.