AS those of us on the left reel under the outcome of a terrible election defeat and struggle to understand why so many working-class people, especially in England, voted against their interests and rejected the best opportunity in decades for a government that would have bettered the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable, it feels like a sliver of optimism that those of us north of the border might just have an alternative to more years of Tory rule.

Many of our colleagues across England envy us the opportunity to vote to go it alone — to carve out for ourselves a different kind of society, one that is hopefully more caring and compassionate and above all more equal.

Because there is no doubt about it, however much Boris Johnson’s first Budget panders to the people who voted for him and gives what will be – if it happens – a welcome rise in funding for the NHS and other public services, his is still a government that is deeply rooted in inequality and casual discrimination.