Bruce Anderson: Ungrateful Scots have finally awakened the dormant nationalism of the English

The average English voter is beginning to find West Lothian on the political map

Let us now praise Tam Dalyell. An MP for more than 40 years, he rose to be the Father of the House of Commons, but first and foremost, he was a great parliamentary nuisance. In their expletives to convey the scale of his nuisance value, many ministers in all governments would have outdone Margaret Beckett. For Tam was not a casual, will-o-the-wisp, mayfly nuisance. This was the man who put the tenacity into pertinacity. As relentless as he was courteous, when he espoused causes, it was a lifetime vow. Decade after decade, he went on and on and on.

He ought now to be continuing his efforts in the House of Lords. But Tam is neither a hack nor a crony nor a paying guest. As his sole claims to a peerage are independence, integrity and cussedness, Tony Blair would have appointed him. Instead Mr Blair - and Mr Brown - will increasingly be pressed to answer the question which won Mr Dalyell immortality: the West Lothian one. It was named after his constituency and he first asked it 30 years ago, during the then Labour government's failed attempt to bring about Scottish devolution. At first sight, it might have seem simple. Why should a Scottish MP be able to vote on legislation which affected England but not Scotland, when an English MP would have no such rights on a Scottish matter?

Simple, but unanswerable. There has been only one realistic attempt to deal with the West Lothian question. It came from Derry Irvine, who was then Lord Chancellor, at a moment when he felt secure in Mr Blair's affections and Mr Blair in the electorate's. Lord Irvine declared that the best way to deal with the West Lothian question was to stop asking it. Fat chance of that, and not only because of Tam Dalyell. The average English voter is beginning to be able to find West Lothian on the political map.

Let us also praise Lord Baker, the former Tory minister. During his days in office, Ken Baker sometimes seemed too smooth for his own good. Like Peacock's Dr Opimiam, even his cat was sleek. But Ken has not entered his eighth decade without becoming far sighted. Before Christmas, he said that David Cameron would win the next election on fairness, always a potent slogan in English politics.

We both recalled the Kipling poem in which the Norman grandee warns his son to be very careful if the Saxons ever start muttering that something or other is not fair. Ken Baker predicted that 30 years on, West Lothian would cease to be a nagging intellectual irritant and become a major political issue.

Scottish devolution was always bound to create anomalies. Until then, Britain had been largely a unitary state. Suddenly, there was an intrusion of federalism. In its early years, the Blair government proposed to deal with this by a more general federalising measure: English regions. But the English were far too sensible to want more politicians with more powers to spend more money. Even the silver tongue of John Prescott could not persuade them otherwise.

So there was a problem. There had been a similar difficulty over Ulster in the days of the Stormont Parliament, but a broadly acceptable solution had been found. Ulster had been allocated only two-thirds of the number of Westminster MPs to which its population would have entitled it and as there were just 12 of them, they never made a crucial difference. So pragmatism prevailed over the purists.

There are 59 Scottish MPs, 41 of them Labour. The Blair government relies on their votes to enact legislation which does not occur in Scotland. "No representation without legislative equality," is a clumsy slogan, but there is a popular version: no more unfairness.

Soccer plays a part in all this, as it does in far too much. There are grounds for being glad that England will not win the World Cup. That would have accelerated the lumpen proletarianisation of our public culture. The celebrations would have made the most excitable Latin Americans seem like Marcus Aurelius.

But it was not cultural fastidiousness which influenced Scottish attitudes. The English are benignly disposed to the sporting prowess of the other home nations. A lot of them have been annoyed to discover that there was no reciprocal generosity in Scotland and that most Scots are ABEs: Anyone But England.

Scots dominate the government. Their MPs have more power than English ones. Per head, they receive more in public spending and pay less in taxes. Yet far from feeling grateful, they cheer for the foreigners. In response, the Saxons are not merely muttering.

Because most sociologists are unreconstructed leftists, nostalgic for the Warsaw Pact and Arthur Scargill, a fascinating social phenomenon of recent years has not been examined: the rise of the cross of St George. England fought the 1966 World Cup under the Union flag. I suspect that in those days, the average Englishman would not have heard of the cross of St George. So how did white-van man discover it? Not, surely, at his comprehensive school. We may be witnessing a growth in English nationalism incited by the resentful subsidy-junkies north of the border.

There is a Scottish word, "girn". More or less onomatopoeic, it refers to the exasperating, snivelling crying of an overtired child. It also describes the political attitudes of far too many Scottish adults. Scotland is a society in the grip of self pity, led by a pack of grievance-mongers who are only happy when they are bellyaching against the English (wait until there is a Tory government in London). Devolution was supposed to cure all that. Instead, it has made matters worse. The insecure, truculent provincialism is even more strident.

There was never any real danger that Scotland would break up the Union. The Scots would not vote to separate themselves from England's cheque book. The real threat of separation has always come from England.

Despite their obsession with football, the English are still one of the politest races on earth. Stand on an Englishman's foot, and he will apologise. Second time, a second apology; it is only on the third occasion that he will knock you down. The Scots, who do not realise that offence they have caused in England, are still blithely unaware of this. But a Tory campaign for fair votes will at least ensure that the Scots in Tony Blair's cabinet realise that the Saxons are restless.

When a Tory government passes a bill to prevent Scottish MPs voting on English matters, there will be an anomalous consequence. A future Labour Prime Minister who sat for a Scottish seat would be able to advocate certain policies affecting, say, education in England. He could put them in his manifesto. But he himself would be unable to vote.

Anomalous, undoubtedly - but it is at least a fair anomaly. It may be the only way to reconcile the English to the consequences of devolution. It would also help the Tories to win a lot of English votes. David Cameron himself has Scottish ancestry. This will not prevent him from urging the case for fair votes.