Salmond was not the only one pushing for a Scottish referendum

The White Paper on Scotland’s constitutional future being published today by the SNP government is another cunning tactical move by Alex Salmond, formally putting down Devolution Max as an option for Scotland.

“Independence lite” it’s been called – it promises all powers for Scotland except defence and foreign affairs – and the SNP will be hoping it lures waverers on a path to pure independence.

This is also part of the battle for who will be Scotland’s voice against a possible Conservative government in Westminster.

Take a look at these tables on recent polling and you can see why the SNP is a bit worried. (Two numbers in each column because of the two-vote Holyrood voting system – but what you see is Labour drifting up, SNP drifting down and Lib Dem drifting).

One of Labour’s attacks on the SNP is that now is not the time to be fiddling with constitutions when there’s an economic emergency around.

But I understand that two Cabinet ministers made a modest push within government to have a referendum on Scottish independence on the same day as the general election. (These chats were taking place in parallel with a push by some Cabinet ministers for an electoral reform referendum to coincide with polling day as well – there would’ve been a lot of ballot papers to fill in at some polling booths!)

The two Cabinet ministers concerned have accepted that they’re not going to get their way.

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