THE MORE profound question raised by last week's municipal and regional elections in Britain was not about which party was now likely to win at the next national poll, but of the very future of the union of the United Kingdom (U.K.) of Great Britain.

It is a matter to which the Caribbean, and particularly Jamaica, ought to pay significant attention, for more than the fact of our long and historic relations with the U.K. In the case of Kingston, Britain represents more than a foreign policy issue, as these matters are normally articulated. Given the critical mass of Jamaicans in the U.K. and their cultural influence in the country, it is more like part of a Greater Jamaica, a concept being quietly embraced in our approach to diasporic relations.

Insofar that the U.K. vote has as yet got attention in our region, the major focus has been on the fact that Tony Blair's Labour Party took something of a drubbing, even if not as bad as some expected, and that David Cameron's Tories made strong gains.

Labour lost nearly 400 council seats and eight town halls, with a share of the national vote of around 26 per cent, about equal with the Liberal/Democrats. The Conservatives, on the other hand, had 40 per cent of the vote, gained over 880 seats and 38 councils. Mr. Cameron believes that his party, after three consecutive defeats, is on course to win the next general election in two years time. Labour argues that Gordon Brown, soon to succeed Mr. Blair as their leader and Prime Minister, can turn things around.

Yet, much of the political discourse in Britain over the next few years, in which we must ensure that our citizens are engaged, will be on whether the U.K., as it now exists, will remain intact or Scotland will be an independent country. For, ironically, Northern Ireland is today perhaps more securely part of the union than is Scotland.

England and Scotland, which have shared a single monarch since 1603 when Scotsman James VI succeeded his cousin Elizabeth I on a unified throne, became a unitary state 300 years ago when they abolished their separate, sovereign parliaments in favour of Westminster.

Scottish nationalism never fully died and it was in concession to this that Blair led the creation of the devolved Scottish Parliament nearly a decade ago. In last week's election, Alex Salmond's Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) won 47 seats to the 129-seat Parliament, one more than Labour, ending the latter's 50-year reign as the biggest party "north of the border".

The SNP is now seeking coalition partners so that Mr. Salmond can be installed as First Minister boss at Holyrood. But more important is Mr. Salmond's wish to hold a referendum by 2010, hoping to get an endorsement for independence for a country of five million people and substantial reserves of North Sea oil. There are echoes of Quebec.

Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean must define their interest in this matter and articulate this clearly to the diaspora, without overstepping the bounds of sovereign interference.