Capital Ideas

A few posts ago I suggested that if David Cameron really wanted to spike Alex Salmond's guns (and stuff his mouth with gold at the same time) he could do worse than promise to move the capital of the UK to Glasgow in the event of a No vote in Scotland. It probably sounded like a joke, but it wasn't. Moving the capital would have numerous advantages.

• It would help reverse the ever-increasing concentration of power and population in London, which is not only in England but in the corner of England at the greatest distance from the other nations of the UK


• It would demonstrate the UK's commitment to Scotland


• It would encourage investment in travel infrastructure. Once the MPs who live out their days within the M25 experience what it's like elsewhere, cash will follow


• It would free up Westminster to become the seat of an English parliament. With the UK parliament located elsewhere, the absence of such a body and the injustice of the same would surely become apparent to all. (Alternatively, it could be the seat of the South-East Regional Assembly, with others in Plymouth, Birmingham, York and Runcorn - the last to avoid arguments between the Liverpudlians and Mancunians, and as a sly tribute to Hexwood)

An alternative suggestion is to choose a truly central UK location, and for this purpose I would propose Anglesey. It's an economically depressed area, and the travel links in North Wales are even worse than in most of the rest of the UK. Besides, there's historical precedent for it - look at the Druids!

The more I think about this, the more obvious a suggestion it seems.