Malky returns

I'm glad to see that Sir Malcolm Rifkind is on his way back to Westminster, having been selected for the safe Conservative seat of Kensington and Chelsea. Although a bit too much on the side of the State for my liking, he does seem to be an honest and gentlemanly kind of guy, unlike so many of the gang now in power.

I once met Sir Malcolm at the magazine section of Borders in Edinburgh and had a brief chat. I pointed him in the direction of the American libertarian publications, Liberty and Reason. Maybe he has picked up some useful ideas from them.

Sir Malcolm echoes Michael Howard's recent remarks on the role of Scottish MPs:

SIR Malcolm Rifkind has come out in support of the idea of Scottish MPs being prevented from voting on English-only issues, saying the present situation is no longer sustainable.

Quite correct of course, but a minefield for a Labour party that is so often dependent on the votes of MPs from north of the border. As I have written before, the only workable solution is for all four parts of the UK to be self-governing and self-financing with a fee being sent to the UK government to cover the few functions that need to be handled centrally. Other than defence and foreign relations, little else comes to mind.