Does the government have a policy on the union? Following Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation as first minister of Scotland, this is an important question which doesn’t have an obvious answer. On paper, responsibility for the union rests on the political side with Michael Gove, part of his expansive remit at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. His counterpart in Whitehall is Sue Gray, who leads on the union and the constitution at the Cabinet Office.
Rishi Sunak presumably endorses this arrangement, at least on paper; when he recently reorganised several departments to better focus on his priorities, he left that sprawling department untouched. But when it comes to actually taking on the Scottish National party, it seems to be a very different story.
