IT CAN be difficult to discern what the English part of our United Kingdom actually wants.

At the height of the referendum campaign there was the famous "love-bombing" campaign in which many, including much-loved celebrities, pleaded with Scots to stay in the Union.

Then there was the declaration in Downing Street the morning after the poll about English Votes for English Laws, which then hovered over the General Election campaign like some attack drone.

Scotland, Labour's travails notwithstanding, appears to have enjoyed the aftermath of its recent electoral experiment in which voters chose to send SNP members in overwhelming numbers to Westminster.

If that has added to the discomfiture of the establishment there that was, to some extent, the point: Mhairi Black, unseating the Shadow Foreign Secretary, heading to Westminster as the UK's youngest MP, eating chips, supporting gay rights and heading back up the road to finish her university exams all seemed a bit of fun.

But now we get down to the nitty-gritty, and it goes to the heart of the arguments of last summer. There are Commons rules about procedure and seat placings and orders in which questions will be called but that matters little compared to the broader issue of legitimacy.

Some of the recent claims about the role of the SNP imply a lack of legitimacy. There is talk that SNP membership might be blocked on the Intelligence and Security on the grounds that the party's MPs are opposed to the Trident weapons programme.

Leave aside from that argument the fact that sundry admirals or the likes of former Tory Defence Secretary Michael Portillo believe the Trident programme is an absurdity; leave aside that it is a legitimate view to hold for any politician or activist; and leave aside that the Labour Party has always harboured those who do no believe in the morality, efficacy or independence of a nuclear deterrent.

No-one can plausibly argue that it is not a legitimate view to hold in UK politics, should such a concept even make democratic sense.

But, as we report today, that is exactly the proposal being made at Westminster where a plan is being considered to block SNP members from the Intelligence and Security Committee. Let us be clear on that. The party grouping representing the vast majority of Scots would be blocked from appointment to a key committee. That is a stunning conclusion to the process that began last year with a pledge of more powers. The Vow did not say "except for committees where you are not trusted".

Can we be the first to point out all the many ironies in this latest proposal? SNP members are fully sworn-in Members of Parliament and are not part of an abstentionist tradition. They are entitled to pursue the policies in the manifesto on which they stood. And above all, given last year's entreaties from pro-Union politicians to stick with the UK, our MPs must have the full right to exercise that power. What is the alternative?