There was a little piece of Parliamentary history last week. For the first time since the creation of the Union, Scottish and Welsh MPs were excluded from a vote on issues exclusive to English constituents.
The piece of legislation was the Housing Bill and the mechanism employed essentially allows the bill to proceed as normal, but for a grand committee of the House to sit, allowing English MPs the power to veto anything that has been approved (or otherwise) by non English MPs. Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs can, and did, contribute to the grand committee debate, but they cannot vote. At last, after the devolution of the Scottish, Welsh and Irish parliaments, English residents can no longer be told what to do by MPs who are not elected on the matters being debated - the core of the so-called Mid-Lothian Question.
The Scottish Nationalist were up in arms, as expected, complaining that they are now second class MPs. Their argument fell on stony ground as they claimed they could not vote on issues affecting other, English, MPs' constituents, even when they could not vote on such issues affecting their own constituents.
However, the resolution of the Mid Lothian Question does feed the nationalists' hunger for further conflict between Scotland and the remaining UK. They cite this as evidence of Whitehall treating Scotland poorly, and I suspect that the recent debate sparked by a private members' bill on an English national anthem probably adds fuel to the fire.
The basis of the debate is clear. When there is a home nations sporting tournament, the England team plays the National Anthem (applicable to all four home nations), whilst the other teams have their own anthems. It is apparently clear that this ought to be resolved. Suggestion such as Land of Hope and Glory for the England team, or Jerusalem, are well received. My favourite is I Vow to Thee My Country.
Underneath all this patriotism is potentially a serious problem. I'm proud to be English and proud to be British and a citizen of the United Kingdom. But I believe that we are all stronger together. An independent Scotland would be bankrupt by now, basing their economic model on oil prices at $130 per barrel that are now under $30. Its great to support our individual nations, but we should never forget that we have grown strong by being a union.