Des Browne's dual role

Interesting story in yesterday's Scotland on Sunday in which the First Minister Alex Salmond called for the Scotland Office to be scrapped and have Westminster deal directly with the Scottish Parliament (and, presumably, the Scottish Government). It seems to me rather like kicking a man while he's down, following as it did unprecedented criticism from five former defence chiefs of staff who called on the Defence and Scottish Secretary Des Browne to ditch his Scotland Office duties. Scotland on Sunday claimed that an analysis of his official engagements over the past few months contradicted Browne's claim that his Scottish brief did not interfere with his day job at the MoD.