WHATEVER the result the union has changed forever.


By the time many of you read this the result will be known.


Most of us hope for a ‘no’ vote because we understand that 300 years of tradition and friendship and common achievement is part of all of us. 


Many of us living in Cheshire have a Scottish heritage. 


I certainly do and a split would be sad. A separate Scotland would diminish both sides.


It should interest all of us to understand that under current plans, even if Scotland votes “yes” there would still be 57 Scottish MPs elected to Westminster at the general election next May. 


What this means in practice is that Scottish MPs could choose the Prime Minster next May, even though Scotland is on a path to separation. How fair is that?


However, it is also true that a “no vote” means change.


In the panic of the last few weeks Scotland has been offered “devo max”. Gordon Brown defines this as “homerule in all but name” and full tax raising powers. 


Well if that is the case, so be it. But even Gordon Brown can’t expect to send 57 Scottish MP’s to Westminster to vote on English taxes when they have a separate Parliament doing all that in Scotland.


We would need either an English Parliament or many fewer Scottish MPs. My preference would be for some version of the former. 


But getting that underway is fraught with difficulty and both Wales and Northern Ireland are interested in more local powers too.


I fought hard against the “devomax” option being on the ballot paper because the myriad of constitutional issues were not sorted. 


They are still not sorted but the genie is out of the bottle.


So what does this mean for Warrington? 


Already Scotland enjoys better public services and far more public spending per head. Any attempt to impose a constitutional settlement which permanently enshrines higher public spending north of the border should be resisted by MPs that serve English constituencies.


It certainly will be by me.