Gordon Brown doesn’t understand what Scottish voters want

Only Gordon Brown could come up with a 40-point plan for constitutional renewal. ‘Less is more’ is not a principle with which the former Prime Minister is familiar. When his UK constitutional commission was launched in 2020 we were promised a ‘radical alternative to nationalism’ and a ‘constitutional revolution’ to remake Britain along federal lines. What has emerged looks like fiddly, modish reforms with lots of hubs and clusters and the inevitable citizen’s juries. Plus, of course, more devolution to Scotland and a reformed upper house that Conservatives will no doubt portray as a new battering ram for the SNP.

Has Brown’s review landed well? Sir Keir Starmer has certainly endorsed his proposed abolition of the House of the Lords. Brown’s scheme involves replacing the Lords with an elected ‘Assembly of the Nations and Regions’ of around 200 members. It looks very much like an exercise in strengthening the Scottish parliament’s powers vis-à-vis Westminster.