The commentators                    11-05-15

...on Scotland

The Scottish Nationalists are manipulative bullies. The way to deal with bullies is to face them down. In this case that means no fiscal devolution, an end to the Barnett subsidy and the Scots being told that if they want another independence referendum they can have it right now.
- Melanie Phillips, The Times
Paul Mason
The scale of the SNP’s victory in Scotland virtually compels all the UK-wide political parties to start centring themselves on a place called England. Whether we get English votes for English laws in the Commons, or power devolved to the English regions, depends on how big a priority the Conservatives make them. Labour, almost certainly, will have to create a federal structure and an English party organisation to mirror its Scots and Welsh ones. But as an English person I would like to declare up front: I do not want to be English - Paul Mason, The Guardian
The challenge is how to respond to the SNP, with the Union at great risk again. At the very least, surely it is time to start challenging its leader, Nicola Sturgeon, rather than allow her to strike her phoney pose as anti-austerity warrior and victim of English cruelty? She may be charismatic, eloquent and a fine campaigner, but she should be examined as closely as any other politician – and when she is, her confident stance looks rather less convincing.
- Ian Birrell, The Independent
Time and steadily hardening Scottish self-confidence are on the SNP’s side. By 2017, opinion may have radicalised still further. Then a head-on collision over Europe might see those 56 men and women leave the green benches, head back to Edinburgh, and proclaim a sovereign Scotland under the Saltire
- Neal Ascherson, The Guardian
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Comment archive, 2015

Ed Miliband
March 27 Prince Charles's letters
March 26 UK politics
March 25 Cameron's exit strategy
March 24 Lee Kwan Yew
March 23 UK politics
Jim Murphy, Scottish Labour party conference
March 13 UK politics
March 12 Jeremy Clarkson
March 11 UK politics
March 10 UK politics
March 9 UK politics
Rifkind and Straw
February 27 UK politics
February 26 Minor party leaders
February 25 Natalie Bennett
February 24 Rifkind and Straw
February 23 World affairs
Merkel and Putin
February 13 UK politics
February 12 UK politics
February 11 UK politics
February 10 UK politics
February 9 Politics
Alexis Tsipras
January 30 Rape law
January 29 UK politics
January 28 UK politics
January 27 Greece
January 26 UK politics
Hebdo demo
January 16 World politics
January 15 Election debates
January 14 Charlie Hebdo
January 13 Charlie Hebdo
January 12 Charlie Hebdo
George Osborne
March 20 UK politics
March 19 The Budget
March 18 UK politics
March 17 Race in Britain
March 16 UK politics
Boris Nemtsov
March 6 Scotland and the election
March 5 Isis
March 4 UK politics
March 3 Radicalisation
March 2 Russia
Copenhagen
February 20 UK politics
February 19 Chelsea and racism
February 18  UK politics
February 17 UK politics
February 16 Copenhagen 
education
February 6 UK politics
February 5 Isis atrocity
February 4 UK politics
February 3 UK politics
February 2 UK politics
Pope Francis
January 23 UK politics
January 22 Chilcot inquiry
January 21 Page Three
January 20 Anti-semitism 
January 19 Religion and freedom
Charb
January 9 Charlie Hebdo
January 8 Charlie Hebdo
January 7 UK politics
January 6 UK politics
January 5 UK politics
For EI daily digests from June to December 2014 please click here
Comment digest courtesy of
Editorial Intelligence
ballot box
May 8
General election
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Picture
May 1
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Sturgeon and Salmond
April 24
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Drowned refugees
April 20 
Scottish National Party
manifestos
April 17
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Westminster
April 10
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dissolution parliament
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Depression and killer pilot
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