Eddie Barnes: Three's a crowd in the Holyrood-Whitehall power struggle

THERE is a crude term given to describing the current behaviour of the warring factions at Holyrood and Westminster. This being a family newspaper, suffice to say that the main protagonists are all male, and that's not their hands they're waving at each other.

First, last week, there was the article in this newspaper by Scottish Secretary Des Browne eviscerating the record of the SNP Government, accusing them of living in a "parallel universe". Then there was the slap-down by the Treasury, claiming the SNP's plans for a new Local Income Tax went outside their jurisdiction. "Charging around behaving like a proconsul dealing with some far-flung territory," the Scottish Government spat back.

This weekend, they claim that the cost of "London Labour" in terms of how much Scottish cash Whitehall is hoarding amounts to some £874 per family per year. Wendy Alexander, the leader of the Scottish Labour group, must be wondering whether there's really any point in coming back from holiday this week. The battle is not between her and Salmond any more; it's bully-boy London versus whingeing Edinburgh.

One business leader in Glasgow last week mournfully declared how utterly bored he was by the whole thing. Sorry pal; this is just the start. Whitehall aides say that they are now going to get tough with Edinburgh. SNP MPs and MSPs merely urge them to bring it on. This is a scrap which both sides appear to fancy. They will have it whether we want it or not.

This open warfare may be unprecedented but it is only a more hostile and full-blooded version of the more private, but no less bitter, hatred which has existed between Holyrood and Westminster since devolution began. Do not think for a moment that there weren't just as many furious spats during the Labour-on-Labour cold war of 1999-2007; it was just that we didn't get to hear about most of them. Now out in the open, commentators argue that the greatest problem of the hostility between London and Edinburgh is that it will obstruct the smooth running of government. But I would argue that there is another equally grave danger; it locks us into the false construct that power in Scotland revolves solely around the Holyrood-Westminster axis, as if they were the only two poles which mattered.

Only in this parallel universe is the SNP Government able to get away with putting forward plans for a nationally set Local Income Tax (explain that one please), thereby removing one of the key measures of accountability – the setting of rates – from Scotland's 32 councils. Only in this bizarre world would the three Unionist parties be able to demand more powers for themselves when there doesn't appear to be any great groundswell among their membership for them to get any.

The Holyrood-Westminster power-play means we forget about the third player in all this – local government. Ever since devolution began, when the media and the public focused their gaze on their not-so-shiny new Parliament, council politics have been consigned to the role of passed-over bridesmaid. If politicians are going to have a genuine debate in the coming months about where power should reside then they must now address this imbalance.

Take the current row over council tax benefit for example. Forget about the fate of £400m of council tax benefit – why not consider handing Whitehall's entire welfare budget to local councils? The original benefit system – the Poor Laws – were locally based after all; isn't it time that the dead hand of central government now hands the powers back? The move makes sense. At present, welfare is delivered by a nonsensical combination of national, devolved and local government. Local councils – who know their patch well – could work it out better, removing such disincentives.

And the bonfire of the quangos? Hand the embers to councillors. Give them something to do. And while we're at it, scrap a dozen or so pointless MSPs and make council leaders sit at Holyrood in their places. Margo MacDonald is already mayor of Edinburgh; we might as well make her post official.

But I suspect there is a reason these changes won't happen and it's because it's on neither Holyrood nor Westminster's to-do list. They entail loss of control and power, and that's not something either Gordon Brown nor Alex Salmond will contemplate. We should be wary of these national politicians as they fight over more powers. What they really mean is more powers for them.