Political Earthquake?

I awoke this morning to news that the Scottish Nationalist Party had beaten expectations and took a "safe" seat from Labour in Glasgow.

As a liberal unionist, there is no result I would have liked other than a Liberal Democrat victory. But I still would have preferred a Labour victory over the SNP. As they say the opposition does not win elections, the Government loses them. Hopefully this is less a reaction for Scottish nationalism and more a reaction against the current UK Government.

Gordon Brown has got to go after this summer's terrible by-election carnage. I had great hopes when he took office, his dour attitude sat well in comparison to Tony Blair's faux enthusiasm and his declared Britishness won me over completely. And I don't feel like he has made any huge mistakes, however I feel he has made a far worse error: he has not done anything positive.

As his administration slowly collapses he has been paralysed and has done nothing to shore it up... this has allowed the Tories to make gains south of the border and the SNP to use their so far fairly stable Scottish Government to make gains north of it. This is unforgivable and I trust the Labour party will ensure it is led into what seems can only be a terrible election with someone fresh.

I fear the damage is too great and, with the future possibility of a UK Government led by the increasing divisive Tories and the Scottish Government led by the SNP, this countries continued existence is threatened.

Should the Union fall I, for one, would be deeply upset. To find myself living in a renewed Kingdom of Eng-er-land would be truly a terrible moment. Alas, I feel I am in the minority now... what a sad last testament it would be to the British people: sharing the same islands, but unable to live together.