Cock-crow

In those darkest hours just before the dawn there's always the fear that the dawn will never come, that the cock will never crow and your closest friends will deny you not once, not twice, but three times.


Most of us can console ourselves with the thought that this, too, shall pass. For some, however, those fears do become horrendous reality. Following hard on the heels that any Labour Member's Bill on an Independence referendum would require the permission of the Scottish Government comes betrayal in London (I've chopped out the boring bits):

Mr. David Cameron (Witney) (Con): Labour’s leader in Scotland, Wendy Alexander, says that there should be a referendum now on Scottish independence. Does he agree with her?

The Prime Minister: That is not what she has said. The Conservative party, the Liberal party and the Labour party have joined together in setting up the Calman review, the commission on devolution. I hope that we can see progress in that commission, and we will review the progress before making any further decisions.

Mr. Cameron: I think the Prime Minister is losing touch with reality. This is what Wendy Alexander said: “I don’t fear the verdict of the Scottish people,” she told BBC Scotland on Sunday, “Bring it on.”
What else could that possibly mean? Can I ask the Prime Minister again? Does he agree with Wendy Alexander or not? It is not much of a leadership if no one is really
following him.

The Prime Minister: What the leader of the Labour party in Scotland was pointing to was the hollowness of the Scottish National party, which said that it wanted independence, said that it wanted it immediately, and now wants to postpone a referendum until 2010–11.
That is what she was pointing out. She was making it clear that what the Scottish National party was doing was against its election manifesto.

That followed this from the morning briefing with Gordon Brown's official spokesman (PMS):

Scotland
Asked whether the Prime Minister agreed with what Wendy Alexander had said on the issue of independence for Scotland, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that we had gone round this course many times yesterday and as he had said, there was a debate taking place in the Scottish Parliament on the timing of any referendum on Scottish independence. The Prime Minister had always been confident of the strength of the argument in favour of the Union and believed that a referendum on Scotland leaving the Union would be defeated.

Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the timing of an early poll, the PMS reiterated that there was a debate taking place between the various political parties in Scotland at the moment. Asked if the Prime Minister would be joining that debate at any point, the PMS repeated that the debate was taking place in Scotland.

Put that the Prime Minister might want to comment on the issue if he was in Scotland, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's physical location was neither here nor there.

Asked whether the Prime Minister thought that the rest of the UK should have a say on Scottish independence, the PMS replied that at the moment there was no particular proposal for a referendum and when there had been previous votes on the issue, they were votes that had taken place in Scotland. The PMS added that people were getting slightly ahead of themselves, as the position at the moment was that there was still a debate going on in Scotland about the timing of any potential referendum.

So he wouldn't help her out even if he was standing beside her? With friends like that who needs enemas? The SNP commitment is a manifesto in 2010 - check page 8.

UK General Election? Bring it on.