by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: June 13, 2007

This is a subject on which a great many of us could perhaps write spiel after spiel but for me the one outstanding legacy Mr Blair will leave is that he will go down in history as the man who destroyed the Union.

It is a widely held belief in countries such as ours that governments will come and governments will go and although each will attack the pertinent issues of the day in it's own manner and style, there will always remain the option of a future administration of a different ilk reversing legislation and coming at the problem from a different perspective. I would have to agree that this is largely the case and on issues such as health, education, foreign policy and taxation - to name but a few - will remain so. But what happens when a decision is made regarding the very constitutional fabric of the country, one which transforms the political landscape of the nation so drastically from how it has remained for three centuries with such overwhelming success, that a reversal of the tactic is nigh on impossible?

When Mr Blair so naively instigated a referendum regarding the establishment of a Scottish Parliament for the first time since 1707 and an assembly in Wales, he set in motion a series of events which even the less politically astute among us cannot surely fail to see will have dire consequences for the whole of the United Kingdom. He has created - at astronomical expense! - yet another layer of government and bureaucracy which not only was not required, it has the potential to come in to direct confrontation with the powers that be at Westminster. We have already seen such confrontation with Labour administrations in both camps; what is going to happen now that a Scottish Nationalist - albeit minority - government is sitting in Edinburgh? Mr Salmond and his separatists are sure to cause as much friction as possible with London in an attempt to secure a divorce from what has been such a long and successful marriage.

In England, we also have the crazy situation whereby Scottish - and to a lesser extent Welsh - MP's are sitting in on debates and voting on legislation which will not affect the people of Scotland or Wales! Where was the foresight, the political astuteness and the simple common sense behind this decision, Mr Blair - I am sure so many of us would dearly love to know.

RIP Great Britain - I will love you forever with all my heart and miss you with all my soul. "Thank you," Mr Blair!

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