More Brown pants?

WENDY Alexander's demand for an early referendum on Scottish independence two weeks ago holed a secret plan being drafted by UK Labour chiefs to trigger a vote on the matter as early as this winter, Scotland on Sunday can reveal.
Detailed proposals were being drawn up in Whitehall to put forward a Scottish referendum bill in the House of Commons which would have led to a quick vote on the future of the country.

Gordon Brown is understood to have been considering the plan, but it was ruled out after Alexander made a chaotic U-turn, forcing the Prime Minister to disassociate the party from such a scheme.

I think the prime purpose of this leak is to damage further Ms Alexander’s credibility and attempt to explain Brown’s own embarrassing performance over the matter. I must also say that I’m sceptical that this proposed plan even existed, due to mainly the fact that I don’t think Brown would have had the backbone to go ahead with this; I think the result would have been a foregone conclusion in favour of the Union, but it may have also revealed embarrassing internal frissures within both Scottish and UK Labour Party and thus weakened further his own position within the party.

Also, once again (if the plan did indeed exist), unwarranted caution:

Labour's plan until then had been to organise a referendum at Westminster where it could have controlled the timing and the wording of the question put to the people. Labour sources point out that as the Constitution is a reserved matter, it should be Westminster which organises the vote, and not Holyrood. They also point out that, with Labour having a majority at Westminster, a bill proposing a referendum could have been passed "within weeks", thereby ensuring that the matter could have been dealt with quickly.

"Whatever the timing, whatever the wording, this referendum will be won."
That’s the challenge Scottish Labour should be throwing down to the SNP- remove the possibility of any post-vote excuses and then the victory will be all that much sweeter.