Quote of the day

Rachel Sylvester in The Times (reproduced here):

Only in the past two weeks has Mr Cameron focused on Scotland after a poll showing the Yes camp ahead made him realise that he might be about to become the prime minister who presided over the break-up of the United Kingdom. Once he understood quite how high the stakes had become, he panicked, cancelling prime minister’s questions to rush north and talk about how heart-broken he would be by separation, while promising new powers if the Scots agreed to stay.

None of this had been properly thought through. Tory MPs predict a huge rebellion if legislation is introduced to give greater powers to Scotland without also devolving rights to England. “Even if there’s a ‘no’ vote, Cameron has ended up giving away the keys to the kingdom on the basis of one opinion poll,” says a senior backbencher. “That is just wrong. The whole attitude has been ‘let’s get through today and worry about the details later’.”

Twas ever thus ...