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The break-up of the UK would represent a sad coda for the Queen

But 12 December 2019 might also represent another historical way station of huge import. For it could be the last time MPs from Scotland are returned to the Westminster Parliament. The Scottish question was vividly put in The Guardian last month by Neal Ascherson when he claimed that “Brexit has delivered the United Kingdom to the hospice of history”. I hope it hasn’t – but I fear it has.