D'ou venons nous, que sommes nous, ou allons nous?

'Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?' Gaugin asked. For English nationalists the first two questions are easy to answer: We come from England, we are English. The third question has been exercising the minds of the Witanagemot Club for some time. It's been hard to answer because, we are told, England is merely a collection of UK regions - rather than a nation - with no desire for political autonomy, self-determination and, more obliquely, no desire for her own parliament.

Finally I'm back in Canada, having returned from what John describes as my trek in the jungle. Whilst I have been away the third question has not been answered but, to my delight, several of the obstacles to its elucidation have either been removed or thrown into stark relief.

John Prescott.

It used to be said that John Prescott was the First Minister of England, or the First Minister of 'the regions' if you prefer. England was his personal fiefdom, and his writ extended across many of the England's legislative areas that have become devolved areas of competence for the Scottish government. Although his incompetence knew no bounds he was able to influence decision-making, and in particular reorganise local government, in a manner befitting a despot - he was no doubt referred to by those in Brussels as 'Our man in England'. With the endless indulgence of Blair the only check on Prescott's powers over England were the regional bodies set up and appointed by himself, and the lack of indulgence from other members of Cabinet over whose policy areas he tried to wrest control or influence.

But now Prescott has been stripped of practically all responsiblity. The once mighty Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Mandarin of the Regions, is now but a shell, to be abolished (word has it) by Brown when he becomes PM. The great tragedy of this story is that the fall from grace (but not favour) has come about not through Prescott's well documented incompetence, but through an unimaginable and unpalletable sequence of events: Prescott naked, erect, an object of desire, copulating, more than once...

England is now rudderless, buffeted by the winds of various Whitehall departments without any grand plan or EU charts to guide her destruction. Captain Prescott who had charted the course 'Balkanisation by any means' has lost control of the ship. It can only be a good thing. But where now for HMS England and all the unwilling citizens of the regions?

Gordon Brown

Precious little has been heard from Brown since it was revealed that 52% of the United Kingdom population believe that it is wrong for a Scot to become Prime Minister. Let's think about those words 'United Kingdom'....What do they mean?

To the majority of the population it is clear that they mean very little. This has been the case for the majority of Scots and Welsh for sometime now, but now the English - the glue of the Union - are starting to get uppity. For the English the Scots are now viewed as the Quebecois are in parts of Canada, as discontented troublemakers endlessly agitating for more privileges. Gordon Brown wishes to govern England in a way that no Englishman sitting in an English seat could hope to govern Scotland, and whichever way you add it up the political arithmetic just doesn't allow for an extention of the Scottish Raj.

Rather predictably Brown supporters and Scottish columnists have started hypocritically accusing the English of 'Scottophobia' for baulking at the prospect of a Scottish MP, unnaccountable to the English, becoming de facto English First Minister, hand-selecting English ministerial posts and directing English policy. However, even the most parochial Scot and Brownite must concede that English antipathy to the Scottish Raj is nothing compared to barely veiled anti-English hatred sometimes exhibited up in Scotland. Antipathy to all things English (more usually British and by extent English) is a defining characteristic of Scottish politics and society, and this characteristic was played upon to great effect by those who campaigned for Scottish home rule. To a greater or lesser extent those campaigners got what they wanted, English MPs are no longer permitted a say in Scottish affairs. Thankfully the English have, for the most part, risen above such xenophobia despite the extreme provocation of the Scottish Labour Party. It is not because Gordon Brown is Scottish that the English object to him becoming PM, but because of the fact that he sits in a Scottish seat (at a time when the West Lothian Question is unanswered). The real question is not whether it is right for Gordon Brown to be British Prime Minister but whether it is right for him to govern England. If an English MP is not permitted to govern Scotland, or even vote in its parliament, then it is wrong for Gordon Brown to govern England and vote on matters pertaining only to England. This is not about 'Scotophobia' it is about the West Lothian Question pure and simple.

Little Man in a Toque recommendation: Gordon Brown and the cloak of invisibility by Nigel Hastilow

John Reid

The 'Stop Brown Candidate' has been made Home Secretary despite the fact that many of his decisions will not affect his constituents up in Scotland. According to Iain Dale "I've just read in the Standard that John Reid described the Home Office recently as "the one Department which can't have a Scot in charge".

This appointment will just serve to highlight the problem of the West Lothian Question. One commenter on Iain's blog teasingly asks "What about John Reid, Glasgow MP, who will insist that the English carry ID card to access key services, yet his own constituents will not be required to do the same?"

Quite! A flag-ship Labour policy now depends on a Scot imposing it on the English. We may not yet be able to answer that third question - Where are we going? - but in the month that I have been absent the political terrain seems to have opened up to enable more fleet-footed progress. The opposition have exposed their soft-underbelly. Labour are in disarray, no more so than in respect to the constitution. All in all it is extremely encouraging.

Do please check out John's Witanagemot Club roundup for more English news. I'm off to Drumheller for a few days of dinosaur hunting. In the meantime check out the Witanagemot Club for your English news.