Ben Habib: Devolution has been a disaster for the UK, and if you need evidence, just look at coronation guest list which included politicians who have busied themselves pulling apart our four nations

It was about Charles the monarch, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

It marked the transition of the guardianship of the Union from his mother to him and beyond. The past was linked to the future through this ceremony and our new monarch. And we, the people, were comforted by the stability and security thus afforded us.

The significance of the occasion was evident in the ceremony. Charles made his vow to serve. It was a noble and necessary commitment. There is no place in a modern democracy for a monarch who expects to be served. He may have inherited the crown by right, but he serves by our pleasure, as its guardian.

Like his mother before him, Charles the King is the conduit through which our Kingdom is carried forward. Not even Westminster has the right to end it. Only we the people have that right. It is not a particularly fine point, but it is a critical one.

So, it beggars belief that those that govern us have allowed our constitution to be so twisted that a senior guest at the coronation was a woman who aims to dismember the very union of which Charles was being crowned guardian. That would be bad enough but, in her case, she will not even denounce terrorism committed against the country.

There can be no justification for entertaining someone like Michelle O’Neill at the coronation. She was there because Westminster, in gross dereliction of duty, has abused the foundations of the Kingdom.

There were several politicians at the coronation squarely responsible for the current state of affairs. The latest and most recent is of course the current incumbent of Number 10, Rishi Sunak. His Windsor Framework, mis-sold as a solution to the Northern Ireland Protocol, has in fact set it in stone. Northern Ireland is subject to foreign laws, made by a foreign legislature and adjudicated by a foreign court.

So too at the coronation was Boris Johnson, who settled the Protocol in the first place, promised to fix it and did nothing.

Also present was the architect-in-chief of the direction of travel which resulted in O’Neill’s presence, Tony Blair. There he was with the regalia of the most senior knighthood of the realm, the Order of the Garter, on full display. This is the man who, with the IRA all but beaten, rescued defeat from the jaws of victory. He rewarded terrorism with a seat at the table. The result: O’Neill with a seat at Westminster Abbey.

The other massive act of constitutional harm visited on the country by Blair was devolution. The Union was never going to be strengthened by dividing it. The notion does not stand the test of a cursory glance of analysis. Through devolution has been fed separatism. There was not just O’Neill at the Abbey but Humza Yousaf, someone else who wishes to break our Union and has openly spoken of the offence he takes from seeing white people in office.

Sad as it is, some self-professed unionists reading this article will be critical of it. Amongst them will be those that have been hijacked by the false narrative and others corrupted by it. With the structures of devolution come regional elected politicians, political appointments and civil servants in their employ. All gaining jobs and salaries. In short, devolution has been bedded in with vested interests, giving succour to separatists and neutering unionists. Devolution has been disastrous for the United Kingdom.

The Queen admirably fulfilled her duty to the country as will, I am sure, the King. But they have not been the unadulterated guardians of the Union that we might assume. While they have been resolute in their commitment, politicians in Westminster have been busy pulling apart the union of our four nations.

If evidence is needed of my charge, you need look no further than some on the guest list for Westminster Abbey.

• Ben Habib is a former Brexit Party MEP