Anyone surprised by this has not been paying attention. This government is not convinced by devolution. And here’s the thing, that’s ok... 1/ https://twitter.com/hrwritesnews/status/1328470172177412097

The 97 devolution settlement only worked while Labour was in power everywhere. That’s self evident because once the SNP won in 2007 it started to fray & unravel. Hence repeated Scotland Acts since, & of course indyref1, The Vow etc... 2/

Incidentally, given the architect of The Vow is now an SNP advisor it now looks like that may have been a deliberate booby trap left behind trip up/blow up the winners of indyref1 and prevent the issue being put to bed.... 3/

The winners of indyref1 have since repeatedly tripped themselves up, shot themselves in the foot etc without any help at all of course... 4/

The SNP position is anti devolution in the sense that they want independence NOT devolution. That’s fine. It’s a noble & reasonable position to take.... 5/

But equally it’s perfectly noble & reasonable to say the solution to this rickety constitutional arrangement is to stop further devolution & strengthen the centre. There almost an element of bravery in challenging the tiresome status quo that says more devo is always good.. 6/

Of course Gordon Brown been challenging that orthodoxy for some time with his ‘the right powers at the right level’ mantra.. 7/

There are problems with today’s news. Firstly, Boris Johnson doesn’t fit the description of a noble & reasonable actor in all this. That undermines what we might call the ‘line in the sand’ position... 8/

Secondly, Westminster attempts to govern from the centre through the pandemic have been pretty guff to say the least. Perhaps that’s inevitable given the complexity of the problem. But there’s no doubt Holyrood, Cardiff & the metro mayors have had their reputations enhanced.. 9/

Another reason the problems of devolution have been left to fester is that Westminster media largely not interested. By its very nature it happens away from London therefore they not keen... 10/

Once upon a time the lobby’s regional corrs would’ve kept the issue alive in the lobby hive mind. But almost all of them got sacked. Remember, a free press is a vital part of democracy (unless the already low salary of a Westminster corr is deemed to b biting into profits!).. 11/

Devolution has not been a disaster. But it’s ok to say it’s imperfect & to want to improve the constitutional settlement. You may decide independence is the answer, or federalism, (not devo max because that’s not a thing), or u may believe it best to draw a line in the sand.. 12/

It’s best if all options are up for discussion. Too often the ‘line in the sand’ argument has been crushed by a simple ‘devo good’ mantra. I’m not saying either is correct, both should be debated (along with independence & everything in between)... 13/

But when the PM uses loose language and has, shall we say, a slippery reputation and a populist style it’s harder to have that debate. And so we end up with politicians shouting past each other and entrenched positions, too much heat too little light... 14/

What’s needed is nuance. Remember nuance? I like nuance... 15/ends