I want to pay tribute to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up who, backed by the Chancellor and Prime Minister, pushed through this deal, which rewrites so many of the long-standing and outdated rules between Whitehall and the regions.
Out of step on economics, slated for her religious views, and running against the hierarchy’s anointed candidate, she took 48 per cent of the vote.
Starmer is unlikely to resist, and even were he minded to try, the Casey Review and his own record in Northern Ireland would make it impossible.
It’s remarkable the Nationalist hierarchy thought it could get away with not saying how many eligible voters there were in the leadership contest.
Can a new leader persuade Nationalist activists to keep waiting, and waiting? Or will they be bounced into a kamikaze bid for separation?
Nearly seven years after the campaign, we are finally moving towards the kind of deal we might have had all along had we never joined.
Like the SNP, the EU are often an overtly hostile negotiating partner. They will take whatever ground he gives up and come back for more.
Scottish Conservatives have attracted unionist voters who might not stick with them if the threat of independence were seen to recede.
The First Minister has a powerful gift for weaving myths about herself, but should not be allowed to write the first draft of history alone.
A litany of domestic failures and the murky state of SNP finances are all possible factors. But his shattering the illusion that the Tories could not win a constitutional fight seems to have tipped the balance.
Consultation found three quarters of Outer London residents oppose the expansion, and neighbouring councils are refusing to cooperate.
Time and again, their more muscular – to borrow a phrase – approach to Westminster’s prerogatives has paid off. Yet they don’t set Union policy.
The West Midlands must compete with Barcelona, Boston, and Beijing – not with London and Manchester.
The First Minister insists that transwomen are women, but defends a separate policy towards placing them in the male prison estate.
So far public opinion has failed to rally behind the First Minister on either the constitutional principle or the substance of the s35 row.