How will Westminster react to Scotland’s majority SNP Government?
I get the distinct impression that thinking in No. 10 on how to deal with Alex Salmond is in the embryonic stage. Unlike the Brown and Blair years the top of government doesn’t swarm with Scots steeped in the ways of Scottish politics.
But there has already been talk of Alex Salmond’s proposals in the Treasury. There they’ve said “no way” to Corporation Tax being patriated to Scotland and “not a runner” to giving Salmond power to sell his own bonds. As for the Scotland Bill Salmond wants to alter, that was agreed between the pro-union Britain-wide parties and fought on in the general election by them.
Compare that, government sources say (opposition ones likewise) with the stuff Alex Salmond is asking for now. He doesn’t, ministers argue, have a mandate for that shopping list because Scotland wasn’t voting on it and it hardly came up in the Scottish parliamentary elections campaign.
As for the independence referendum, I’m not sure they got round to that in the Thursday night phone call. Alex Salmond said again today that this is something for “well into” his second term. Remember his term runs to May 2016 and the Coalition government’s term runs to May 2015.
Read more: SNP wins majority in Scottish elections
Some speculate that Alex Salmond suspects the Tories might get back in at Westminster with a majority and govern on their own from 2015 giving even more ammunition to his independence campaign.
The Coalition does not seem to be hung up on constitutional fetishism about whether Holyrood has the right to call a referendum. It feels it can’t look prissy if Holyrood wants one and that would only aggravate matters so fans of that particular longstanding constitutional soap may be disappointed.
Read more: the coming fiscal punch-up between Scotland and UK Treasury
Elsewhere, in the Lib Dem camp, Nick Clegg is preparing to address his troops on TV and a speech later in the week is going to be that there is not a fag paper between him and the Conservatives over deficit reduction and economic policy but elsewhere it is different.
Privately he acknowledges that he needs to find a new language for Coalition. There will be no public renewing of the Downing Street garden vows on the first anniversary of the Coalition next week but the PM and DPM will appear in public together – they’ll just try to look like they’re enjoying themselves less.
A problem with the “new language of Coalition,” emphasising where you disagree with the Tories, will be that it will make it clear where you haven’t got your way. That’s just the nature of the beast, Lib Dems say, when you only have 57 MPs.