While meeting a friend and discussing the pressing problems facing the United Kingdom, including the credit crunch and the future of Mr Brown’s premiership after the current ‘Brown bounce’, I came up with a great idea. At the next UK Westminster general election, Mr Salmond, the First Minister of Scotland, should stand against the UK Prime Minister in his constituency of Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath. Mr Salmond has a seat in the UK parliament (Banff and Buchan) and, as far as I am aware, there is no impediment for Mr Salmond to stand for both Westminster and Holyrood constituencies. Just mooting such an idea could cause some instability in the Labour ranks. I suppose someone else has already come up with this idea.
PS: The nightmare scenario after the next general election: neither Labour-LibDem nor Conservative-LibDem has a parliamentary majority and SNP becomes the kingmaker. Mr Brown loses against Mr Salmond. Baron Mandelson leads a minority government.