AFP/London
Britain’s main parties yesterday squabbled over how to deliver reform after Scotland voted “No” to independence, after Prime Minister David Cameron insisted any new powers for the Scots must see similar autonomy for the English.
The united front of the referendum campaign, when the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats promised greater devolution for Scots if they stayed in the United Kingdom, is cracking over concerns of the wider implications.
All three parties insist they are still committed to extending the devolved Scottish Parliament’s control over tax, spending and welfare.
But while Conservative leader Cameron has tied this to more autonomy for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, opposition Labour leader Ed Miliband says the issues are separate and should not be rushed through together.
Although any reforms would not be in place by the May general election, they could have a major impact on the parties’ ability to win power.
In Thursday’s historic referendum, Scots voted by 55% to 45% to stay in the United Kingdom. But a poll two weeks earlier had put the pro-independence camp ahead, prompting a last-minute pledge by Cameron, Miliband and LibDem leader Nick Clegg to draw up new Scottish powers by January.
Within hours of the result on Friday, Cameron made the surprise announcement that any reform must also include England - something he had not discussed with the others.
Writing in The Mail on Sunday newspaper, the prime minister said there was a “basic unfairness at the heart of our democracy” which had to be addressed.
Scottish lawmakers in the 650-seat British parliament at Westminster are currently allowed to vote on legislation affecting only England, but English MPs have no say in devolved matters decided in Edinburgh.
“Why should Scottish MPs be able to vote on what is taught in English schools, to reduce spending on English hospitals, or even vary English or Welsh income taxes, when under the new settlement English or Welsh MPs would have no say in such matters in Scotland?” Cameron wrote.
“It is fundamentally unjust to have the views of the people of England and Wales overridden in this way.”
The prime minister will gather senior Tories at his country retreat today to discuss the plans for reform, with the first debate in parliament due next month.
The implications of Cameron’s pledge could see Scottish MPs excluded from certain votes that affect only England, or even the creation of a separate English chamber.
So-called “English votes for English laws” appeal to Conservatives, whose power is concentrated in England, where they won 298 of their 307 MPs in 2010. By contrast, Scotland delivered 41 of Labour’s 258 MPs at the last general election, and excluding them could have a major impact on the party’s ability to pass legislation in government.
Miliband said yesterday he would deliver on the promises of new power for Scotland, but said he had never agreed to make this conditional on new powers for England.
Scots ‘tricked’ out of independence: Salmond
Alex Salmond, the defeated leader of Scotland’s nationalists, yesterday accused Prime Minister David Cameron and other London politicians of tricking Scottish voters out of independence by making a false “vow” about granting them new powers. Salmond, who is stepping down as leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) after spearheading a failed campaign for Scotland to leave the United Kingdom, said the three main political parties had won last Thursday’s referendum vote by 55-45% by deception. “I think the vow was something cooked up in desperation for the last few days of the campaign and I think everyone in Scotland now realises that,” said Salmond, referring to a pledge made by Cameron and other leaders. “It is the people who were persuaded to vote No who were misled, who were gulled, who were tricked effectively,” Salmond told BBC TV. “They are the ones who are really angry.”