GORDON Brown's clunking fist might have landed on David Cameron's posh nose over English votes for English laws (Evel), but the former Prime Minister also seems to have caused something of a political black eye for Johann Lamont.
Few would disagree with the notion that the MP for Kirkcaldy and his tub-thumping call to arms before the referendum vote had a major, some might even say, decisive impact. The former premier's intervention also reminded people of what a political heavyweight Mr Brown is and how in the last few days of the campaign his presence overshadowed everyone else's, including that of the leader of Scottish Labour.
But the immediate problem for the party now is what to do about Gordon?
No-one, not least the Labour comrades, would be foolhardy enough to seek to gag the former leader, but his prospectus for what happens next on devolution, passionately and thoughtfully delivered, means that he might be binding the hands of the party's representatives on the Smith Commission: MP Gregg McClymont and MSP Iain Gray.
Last year, following its own policy commission process, Ms Lamont signalled that Scottish Labour was intent on proposing all income tax should be devolved to Holyrood.
Following a Labour stramash at Westminster, this was toned down to "minded to".
Then, when the final proposal arrived it was simply increasing the 10p Scottish income tax rate to 15p. Ironically, this meant that of all the proposals on extra powers, Labour's came in weaker than the Liberal Democrats' and even the devo-hugging Conservatives.
Since the No vote, it seems a chasm has opened up with the 100 per centers on one side and the partialists, led by Mr Brown, on the other.
Margaret Curran, the Shadow Scottish Secretary and close ally of Ms Lamont, has made clear the party is "open-minded" on the income tax issue, code for - we are persuadable on 100 per cent.
But Mr Brown's prospectus makes this very difficult. His argument is if you devolve all income tax to Edinburgh, this would inevitably lead to calls for Scottish MPs to be banned - under Evel - from finance votes, most notably the Budget.
This would create two classes of MPs, with Scots being crowded into the second-class carriage.
In this scenario, you could quickly see a government with a UK majority - probably a Labour one - hobbled from pushing any of its policies through in England because it did not have a majority south of the Border - probably the Tories would have one instead. This, Mr Brown concludes, would lead to the break-up of Britain, the very thing Labour and its allies have spent the last three years campaigning so hard to avoid.
But the rub is, if Labour officially sides with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in supporting 100 per cent income tax powers for Holyrood, then the logic of Mr Brown's argument is: the party of devolution would be with the forces of Evel and become a wrecker of the United Kingdom.
Interesting times.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article