Prime Minister David Cameron tried to head off a rebellion in his Conservative party over a promise of new powers for Scotland, highlighting the difficulty of giving Scots what they want after last week’s referendum on Scottish independence.
Facing a difficult re-election contest next year, Cameron summoned a small group of disgruntled lawmakers to his country residence outside London yesterday to hear their complaints and to see what he could do to mollify them.
One of the attendees, Conservative lawmaker James Wharton, said before the meeting Cameron needed to address concern that new powers for Scotland could disadvantage the rest of Britain, including England. “There is a need to do something for England as well, there needs to be an English settlement,” he said.
Although England is Britain’s biggest nation, it is the only part not to have been given any devolution of powers. “We need to ensure that whatever happens to Scotland, whatever it’s decided that Scotland is going to get under this process, that there’s a quid pro quo that ensures the north of England doesn’t lose out,” he said.
The emergency meeting underlines the challenges Britain’s political elite faces in delivering more devolution to Scotland, even as the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) accused British politicians of tricking Scots out of independence by making false promises.
Two days before Scots voted “No” to independence, the leaders of the three main parties agreed to give Scots new powers over tax, welfare and spending and to continue a contested arrangement whereby Scotland receives far more central government funding per head than the rest of Britain.
But some lawmakers from Cameron’s Conservatives said they couldn’t accept what they argued was too generous an arrangement that failed to address English rights, raising the possibility of a rebellion that could sabotage the deal.
In particular, they said they wanted “English votes for English rights” - ending the practice whereby non-English lawmakers can vote on English matters but not vice-versa.
Some Conservatives also questioned whether Scotland should continue to receive more funding per head than the rest of Britain if it wants more autonomy and some tax-raising powers.
Claire Perry, one such lawmaker, said Scots shouldn’t be given “financial party bags”, while another, James Gray, likened giving Scots more concessions to “feeding an addiction.”
Such talk has stoked anger among Scots nationalists, and the SNP demanded to know yesterday whether Scotland’s budget was protected or whether British politicians were planning what it called “a cash grab”.
Cameron is expected to offer his disgruntled lawmakers a vote in parliament on the “English question” before the next election, something the opposition Labour party has made clear it wouldn’t support for now.
Support for pro-independence parties grows
Scottish pro-independence parties reported a surge in membership over the weekend as campaigners vowed to continue to fight after a split with the United Kingdom was rejected in a referendum. The Scottish National Party said its servers were struggling to cope with 11,000 new membership requests in the 75 hours following the referendum on Thursday, when it had 25,600 members. The SNP’s leader Alex Salmond announced he would step down as Scottish First Minister after 55% of voters rejected independence, and Prime Minister David Cameron said the question had been settled for a lifetime. However, supporters of independence vowed to continue the campaign on social media, many including the figure “45” in their profile pictures to represent the percentage that voted for the split. “As a former Labour councillor of 15 years I have today joined the SNP,” wrote pro-independence aviation consultant John Baillie on Twitter, who was previously the Labour Party leader on South Ayrshire Council.
