Mr Blair's only problem thereafter may be the extent to which Scottish Labour politicians take him at his word and use their freedom from London control to move Scottish politics away from the New Labour agenda.

ECONOMIST: Scottish politics

The fact that the Labour and Liberal tribes are now agreed on a programme of constitutional change--including reform of the House of Lords, Scottish and Welsh devolution, and a freedom of information act--may help with voters, since the endorsement makes John Major's denunciations of constitutional change seem merely hysterical.

ECONOMIST: What's Cooking?

In the Freedom of Information Act, data protection laws, Scottish and Welsh devolution, and even the attempt to invest citizens with fundamental human rights we can see concrete evidence of good intent.

BBC: Cameron's data speech in full

At the start of this academic year, the Scottish government introduced the Curriculum for Excellence, aimed at giving teachers more freedom and make lessons less prescriptive for children between the ages of three and 18.

BBC: Royal Society praises Scots education system

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie asked why an extension of Scotland's freedom of information system was being blocked excluding housing associations, PFI projects and some public bodies.

BBC: First minister's questions

Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Tavish Scott told the autumn conference the party stood for "fairness, freedom and social justice".

BBC: Danny Alexander

The Scottish government said it was now going ahead with another consultation to consider what extra measures are needed to guarantee freedom of speech, including the protection of religious beliefs of teachers and parents in schools.

BBC: Gay marriage to be introduced in Scotland