Celtic Bloc runs into Barnett wall.

I did make a comment last week pondering why there aren't closer formal links between the various nationalist parties at Westminster. Gerald Holtham has given one possible reason:

THE Government’s fear of angering Scottish voters is a “road block” which is halting reform of the funding system in Wales, a UK economist has warned.

Gerald Holtham, who is under- taking a major study of the fairness of how Welsh government is financed, has found Scotland receives £4.2bn more from the Treasury than it would if it was a region of England.

In contrast, under the present system, Wales is underfunded by approximately £300m.

He said: "There you have it. We are running into a general election where the main opponent of the Labour Party in Scotland is the SNP.

"If you think they are going to change that you can forget it... That’s a very hairy thistle to grasp and the Welsh situation is caught in the backwash."

Mr Holtham said a needs-based alternative to the present funding formula would give Wales about £114 for every £100 spent on comparable activities in England, instead of the £112 it gets today. Scotland’s share would fall from £120 to £105 and Northern Ireland’s from £125 to £121.

Wales (and England) gets a fairer distribution under a new system, Northern Ireland and Scotland suffer. A delighted Plaid Cymru, howls of protest from the DUP, SDLP, SNP and Sinn Fein. In some matters, cultural, social and even political, no doubt informal temporary pacts can be arranged between the nationalist and regionalist parties but that budgetary paradox isn't going anywhere. Unlikely then that Cameron or Brown will then face a United Nat Front to negotiate with in the likelihood of a hung parliament.