Avery Hancock, Amy Mollett and Chris Gilson round up the week in political blogging 

Scottish Independence

George Eaton at The Staggers wonders if Labour could ever win another election without Scotland, although the FT’s Westminster Blog notes that Labour would have still have enjoyed victories in 1945, 1950, 1997, 2001 and 2005 under such circumstances. Douglas Carswell wonders what currency an independent Scotland might adopt and Liberal Conspiracy reckons that Alex Salmond is not as canny as some might think, as the cabinet discusses plans to rein him in. Faisal Islam offers ten vital economic questions for Scotland to consider before breaking away.

Welfare Reform

On Wednesday evening, the government was defeated in the House of Lords, losing three key votes on attempts to cuts benefits for disabled people. Sunny Hundal rounds up the tweets, Liberal Democrat Voice looks at the 5 Lib Dem rebels, and the Guardian live blog calls the defeat “an incredible victory for campaigners, a real kick in the teeth for the government and a personal humiliation for Lord Freud”.

High Pay, Tax and the Economy

Robert Peston queries whether shareholders will crack down on executive pay following on from David Cameron’s attacks on the upward only system of remuneration in British boardrooms. Paul Waugh ponders the future fate of the 50p tax rate and Richard Murphy argues that in the new economics of social democracy, our only option is for the state to spend more.

Women and Equality

The Tory Diary covers David Cameron’s hopes to use the boundary review to select more women candidates in key seats and Conservative Home names Baroness Warsi the most powerful example of Tory feminism. Ivana Bartoletti, Editor of Fabiana, argues that feminism must be put at heart of welfare state reform and economic growth.

The Parties

UK Polling Report looks at where the 2010 voters are at now, and finds that only 1 in 4 Liberal Democrat voters would vote for the party again, as compared to 80 per cent for Labour and 73 per cent for the Tories. Ed Miliband came out swinging after being slammed in the press all last week. The Staggers argues that his biggest problem is in letting his entourage hold contradictory positions. Emma Burnell at Labour List says that David Cameron can’t help showing his nasty side.

And finally…

At Labour Uncut, Peter Watt describes his morning commute to Ed Miliband and David Cameron in less than glowing terms.

John Redwood says that, in reality, there are few seats for life in parliament.