A strong dose of Devo Max

Something astonishing is happening in Scotland. For the first time in a political generation the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party has an opportunity to become relevant to public life north of the Tweed. And it is all thanks to Alex Salmond, now the unlikely potential saviour of Scottish right-of-centre politics.

The First Minister is a formidable politician who appreciates that politics is frequently pregnant with irony. This is one such occasion: the Conservatives, steadfast opponents of devolution, can be saved by a stronger dose of Home Rule. That is, Tories should insist on the third option which Salmond wants to offer voters in the referendum on independence. This would fall short of total independence, but increase financial powers for the Scottish parliament. And it ought to end the current, fraught financial relationship system where England subsidises Scotland (or vice versa, if you believe the SNP) and set Scotland’s budget at whatever it raises in tax.

Devo Max or Devo Plus, as calls for greater Scottish fiscal autonomy are labelled, may sound like types of medicine guaranteed to banish fevers and migraines but they could also be the last, best hope this side of independence of curing the Scottish Conservative Party. If the patient responds well to the medicine, it might yet rise from a bed-ridden decade during which terminal decline seemed more probable than even modest recovery.

Fiscal autonomy might be Salmond’s consolation prize but it should be Ruth Davidson’s preferred outcome. The new Scottish Tory leader, the first lesbian kickboxer to lead a party, must know that if Scotland were responsible for raising her own income — and thus no longer dependent upon a block grant from London — she might be better governed than she has been.