Labour’s demise in Scotland is a problem for the Tories too. They just don’t know it yet

Heaven preserve us from our friends for, though they mean well, they know not the damage they do. I have great respect for Danny Finkelstein. The Pride of Pinner is one of the best and sharpest columnists in the land. There is gold in every column he writes.

So having said that, I am not – this should be obvious – altogether persuaded by his latest epistle.

Let’s concede there’s plenty the noble lord gets right. He is correct to observe that the SNP is now doing to Labour what Labour once did to the Conservatives: denying their legitimacy. He is right, too, that the logic of devolution only leads in one direction. (The Unionist Ultras who opposed the establishment of the Scottish parliament had a point – and, in their terms, some logic – on their side. Nevertheless, that battle was lost long ago and there seems little point revisiting it now.