Scotland could end up as a kind of post-sovereign polity in a looser union with England

British politicians are still clinging to antiquated notions of sovereignty, argues Michael Keating. While British governments have in recent decades come to accept the idea of Scottish self-determination, they have not been able to see their way beyond traditional ideas of sovereignty, so that Scotland must be subordinate to Westminster or completely independent. The moderate solution to the problem is rejected while the extreme one is reluctantly accepted. It is not necessary to become an independent state in order to forge a distinct welfare settlement but a new division of competences would be required.