Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has finally gone public on his long-held desire to rename the Scottish Executive to ‘Scottish Government’. This troubles me for a number of reasons.

First, this move reaks, as all moves by the Tartaned One do, of nationalism. Nationalism implies that one has greater ethical responsibility for those of the same race than to those that happen to be born on the other side of lines along the ground: lines that would be entirely invisible if the state didn’t post soldiers along them. It is racism, and a collectivising philosophy that runs contrary to the worth of the individual.

Second, we already have a government. It’s called Her Majesty’s Government. That one government is authoritarian enough, without the uppity local politicians in Scotland engaging in a pissing match with Westminster to see who can have the greatest impact on the people’s lives. The only result will be more government, at a time when we desperately need less.

Third, and here’s something that the Taxpayers’ Alliance should be livid about, it’s costing the taxpayer a bomb. £100,000 just for the design - and that design is simply the word ‘Government’ and a plain Scottish Flag. Moreover, it’s not even a real name change, but actually little more than a rebranding exercise. Only the UK Parliament can rename the Scottish Executive, and there’s no sign of that happening any time soon.

Until the Sassenachs do what Salmond’s nationalists demand, he’ll be left presiding over the same-old Executive from behind a desk adorned with expensively-redesigned stationery, business cards, and paperweights, plotting how he can spend even more taxpayers’ money trumping Gordon Brown and turning Scotland into his own personal spending fiefdom. The SNP’s little renaming fun does nothing to help the people, only to boost their own egos. Actually, maybe ‘government’ is the perfect word for them.