Salmond: Set England Free: With His Party Ahead in the Polls, the Leader of the SNP Says Independence Would Serve UK Interests Too

Fraser, Douglas, New Statesman (1996)

The tower at the Glasgow Science Centre is Scotland's tallest structure: millennial modernism on a quayside where Clyde-built ships once traded from the second city of the British empire. It was meant to spin on its base, but has been plagued by design problems. As the Scottish Nationalists gathered for their conference next door, their hopes of being photographed symbolically atop the structure were thwarted. It had been closed due to bitter, blustery squalls.

So it goes with devolution. The 21st-century modernisation of the British constitution is not working as devised. It was hobbled by overambitious, over-budget architecture at its home in Holyrood. And Labour has to throw all the bluster and squalls that it can muster if it is to see off the Nationalist threat. Although the 129 MSPs elected four years ago represent eight parties, with a voting system designed to deny any of them a majority, this is a Labour-SNP tussle. The stakes could be highest for Gordon Brown, for whom the timing is awkward. On 3 May, the process of takeover from Tony Blair must surely begin, yet an SNP breakthrough would give the Chancellor a constitutional crisis in his backyard, leaving doubts that he could continue to sit in the Commons if his Fife constituency becomes part of a foreign country.

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Alex Salmond has stressed in recent weeks that he wants to work with Brown. The SNP leader wants to reassure people that his party, if it took power, would be sensible and credible, working with Downing …

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Publication information: Article title: Salmond: Set England Free: With His Party Ahead in the Polls, the Leader of the SNP Says Independence Would Serve UK Interests Too. Contributors: Fraser, Douglas - Author. Magazine title: New Statesman (1996). Volume: 136. Issue: 4837 Publication date: March 26, 2007. Page number: 32+. © Not available. COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale Group.

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