The result of this saga is an entirely predictable constitutional mess that I suspect will, eventually, have to be cleaned up by someone. With the UK heading for the craziest general election for several generations, with insurgent parties rampaging, it is rumoured that the Tory leader is getting ready to attempt it.  Certainly, David Cameron has shown himself capable in the past of bold pieces of play when he feels the situation requires it, or when his own position is vulnerable.  To get himself into No 10 he made a big, open, comprehensive offer to the Liberal Democrats after falling short of a majority in 2010. That he went too far and was prepared to mangle the constitution – offering a referendum on AV and the nonsense of five-year fixed-term parliaments without getting a guarantee of fair parliamentary boundaries – is incidental here. Mr Cameron’s gamble produced a relatively stable government that quite a few people (me included) did not think would survive.  This time – if the Tories fall short again but cling on as the largest party – might Mr Cameron make a similarly comprehensive offer in regard to Scotland?  If no party can form a majority government after May, even a conventional coalition may not be feasible if the Lib Dems have been blitzed and the Tories lose seats but just out-poll Labour. Although the Nationalists may not win as many seats as the polls suggest, they are on target to do very well and their rise is not a blip. As the referendum showed, at least 45 per cent of the Scottish electorate is prepared to vote for separation and many of those Yes voters are now SNP supporters.  In such circumstances, imagine Mr Cameron saying that this must be dealt with properly once and for all. This Unionist auction has now been going on for almost two decades, as the devolutionists say time after time that just a few more powers will do the trick. Just one more set of concessions and the Scots will be satiated, has been the cry. It has not worked.  Those who have made those piecemeal concessions are well-motivated, decent individuals who want to find a workable compromise. But they are trying in vain to fix a cockeyed constitutional set-up implemented by Tony Blair and Mr Brown that created an asymmetrical shambles and did England a grave injustice.  All the concessions that followed since then have taught the Leftists who dominate affairs north of the border that it is far easier to blame any shortcomings in public services in Scotland on a supposed lack of powers or a shortage of resources.  After the election, Mr Cameron could say that this cannot go on. Anyway, the devolutionists are fast running out of powers to devolve without ending the Union in its current form. The Tory leader could say that that being the case, shouldn’t the Union become a quasi-federal arrangement, with all constituent parts having their own taxation and welfare systems? The Commons could sit as an English parliament, with the Lords becoming an elected UK-wide body. Lord Salisbury, the former leader of the Lords, has already floated this idea. All bar the monarchy, foreign affairs and defence would be dealt with by national parliaments, sending some revenues to London for joint services.  For old-school Unionists, like me, this would be hard to take. The brave souls who warned that devolution was going to be a disaster were undoubtedly right. Labour’s Tam Dalyell called it a motorway to independence with no exits; the Tory leader Sir John Major warned in office that it would empower the Nats; Labour’s Brian Wilson tried to get his devolutionist friends to listen; Michael Forsyth, now Lord Forsyth, did everything he could as Scottish Secretary to stop it happening. But the proponents of devolution would not listen.  How ironic then if it ends up being David Cameron who federalises the UK, follows the logic of devolution to its endpoint, and outflanks Gordon Brown.
After the general election, David Cameron may have to deliver his very own   Scottish Vow, says Iain Martin