David Cameron still has much to learn about dealing with nationalists. Theirs is a very different kind of politics – one where flags, language and choreography matters. Nicola Sturgeon is hawking a false premise: l’Ecosse c’est moi. That Scotland is her country, that David Cameron can visit (as he does today) in the same way he visits France or America. It matters to Sturgeon that the talks are presented as those between two heads of state (with the flags arranged in that way), that the premise of the talks is what more he can give her government (which she abbreviates to ‘Scotland’). And Cameron falls into her trap.
The SNP won a great victory last week, but it’s no more a cry for independence than the referendum was. Polls show that support for the separation has not changed since then. Cameron ought to be going out of his way to visit Scotland without paying homage to Sturgeon: he is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and a few months ago, Scots voted decisively for that to remain the case. The need for him to represent unionist Scots is all the greater seeing as half of the country voted for unionist parties who ended up taking just 3 out of 59 seats. So a large number of Scots are counting on him, and the majority want the UK Prime Minister to represent them. Yes, Scots also voted for the SNP to represent them in Westminster – but within the UK system. And only on the strict understanding that this was quite separate to demanding separation.
To Cameron, ‘one nation’ conservatism is as much about the union as Disraeli. But to keep the union, he needs to understand the nationalists properly – and understand the games that they play. He should have made his post-referendum speech in Edinburgh rather than in No10 and could have made regular follow-up visits to see for himself the many ways that Scotland is benefitting from being plugged into the UK economic system (with its jobs miracle).
These visits matter; the choreography matters. Cameron needs to make clear he is discussing (for example) pensioner 
poverty in Scotland being at a record low. The collapse of Jobseekers Allowance claimants in Inverness. And as Prime Minister of the UK, he should raise concerns about the low number of poor Scots who qualify for university (right).
If Cameron accepts Sturgeon’s premise – that the ‘Scottish question’ is now defined by the extra powers he is forced to give her – then he risks turning his referendum victory into a delayed defeat.
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