The threatened abolition of the Human Rights Act is shaping up to be an early and important test of the new political landscape.
An inexplicably vital touchstone for those on the right of the Conservative party, the abolition of what is now regularly described as 'Labour's human rights act', is to be made a priority by David Cameron's new Liberal-free government.
In fact, despite the rebranding, the Act benefited from cross-party support when it was introduced in 1998 and it still has that support in Scotland. A motion backing it was passed in the Scottish Parliament last November by 100 votes to ten.
The Scottish Government claims the act cannot be abolished in Scotland. The Scotland Act explicitly limits the Scottish Government's powers, by saying ministers cannot take any actions incompatible with the HRA or the European Convention on Human Rights.
Alex Neil believes any change would need the consent of the Scottish Parliament, which is unlikely to be given on the basis of the Holyrood vote. The Scottish National Action Plan on Human Rights also has cross-party support.
UK ministers plainly think differently and say Scotland will get abolition, and the new British Bill of Rights promised in the Tory manifesto.
Despite all the concern from politicians and some parts of the media, the so-called 'problems' caused by the HRA are largely mythical.
Backbench Tory MPs speak of limiting the rights of illegal immigrants, travellers and foreigners who offend in the UK. But the act also protects ordinary people against abuse and mistreatment, has helped protect victims of rape and domestic violence and helped bereaved families seek answers after accidents and tragedies.
Meanwhile the 'sins' of the European Court of Human Rights are grotesquely overstated.
The ruling against a blanket ban on prisoners voting, and the difficulty the UK Government had in deporting Islamist cleric Abu Qatad aside, the European Court of Human Rights does not have a track record of riding roughshod over the decisions of British courts.
In 2014, the court dealt with 1,997 applications from the UK, of which 1970 were ruled inadmissible and only four were eventually deemed to constitute violations of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Alex Neil told the Scottish Parliament yesterday that even if the UK Government does abolish the HRA, the Scottish Government could pass new laws to reinstate human rights in devolved areas of policy.
But there are similarly major questions of how abolition can be made compatible with the Northern Ireland agreement, where it is also enmeshed in a constitutional settlement.
Even if it is legally and practically possible for new Justice Secretary Michael Gove to press ahead with abolition and its new bill, you have to question the political wisdom.
How David Cameron manages the conflict between delivering on the mandate his election victory has given him in England while taking account of the SNP's quite different mandate on behalf of Scotland is going to be key to this administration.
Forcing through an English solution to an English problem is not the ideal start. Especially when it may not be a problem at all.
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