Give an inch.

MSPs have said that plans for new Holyrood powers fall short of recommendations made by the cross-party backed Smith Commission in a report just published.  The BBC reported that the Devolution (Further Powers) Committee said the UK government's draft legislation did not meet the "spirit or substance" of Smith.

Sounds an interesting story till you dig only the teeniest bit below the surface and are quickly not at all surprised at what you find.  The Committee has a majority of SNP members on it.  And it fits rather nicely with the continual confrontational narrative coming out from the SNP contingent at Westminster.  Give us more is the constant theme.

Now if the SNP and others who rather amusingly call themselves “progressive” had won a majority at Westminster they could agree to do just that.  But in case Nicola hasn’t noticed, the “progressive” majority never materialised.  They lost the election. 

So when you read the words of committee convener Bruce Crawford (SNP), "The committee believes that the current proposals do not yet meet the challenge of fully translating the political agreement reached in the Smith Commission into legislation.”, read, we lost  the election but we will twist and turn till we get what we want. 

Now I know it was a unanimous report with one Conservative one Lib Dem and two Labour Members putting their names to it.  But be not mistaken, this is a report that has as its core Mission Creep.  And if the Conservative Government didn’t know before, they better watch out now.  The SNP under Ms Sturgeon are pretty smart outmaneuvers and negotiators.  Give an inch and all that.

How can I say that?  Well, I don't recall the Scottish people being asked "do we want proposals like what is in the Smith Commission".  I recall a very simple question to which the Scottish people gave a pretty emphatic answer to.  Mission Creep is well underway SNP style.