The vote for Scottish independence is a sleeping subject for the politicians at Westminster. With fourteen months till the referendum, there is little discussion of the vote or its implications in London. No doubt calculations are being made within circles gaming both the outcomes of "yes" and "no". Yet on this vote hinges the possibility of a majority Labour government.
Will Labour accede to inevitable demands that its Scottish MPs lose certain voting powers in the event of independence or further devolution? Can Miliband ignore the West Lothian question in the event of a No vote? There will be a huge clamour to raise the issue in 2014. It may even outdo Europe in the minds of recalcitrant Tories. The genuine and just outcome will be a form of federalisation.
The Guardian puffery on Alex Salmond written by an admiring Kevin McKenna focuses upon Salmond's capabilities of differentiating on the Left. The hero-worship of industrialism at the start, the demonisation of Toryism and the usual crap that Scottish national identity embodies the Grauniad's wihlist on social justice detracts from a single valid point. The independence referendum cannot single out grievances or oppression as a starter. Therefore, the campaign becomes akin to a general election campaign and will revolve, as Salmond notes, around expectations and opportunity.
I can only guffaw when I think about how an independent Scotland would dash the expectations of Guardianistas who expect a paradise of social justice that can become a beacon to the oppressed and beighted ignorant English. It would also dash the expectations of the Scottish themselves; and that will be a sadder story.