Who speaks for Scotland?

NOT A DAY LONGER

Say 'No' to 42 days: Sign Amnesty's petition against extending pre-charge detention

What do we do now?: Anthony Barnett assesses the stakes for for liberals and radicals in David Davis's campaign against the erosion of rights and liberties

The Abundance of Caution: an authoritative essay by Anthony Barnett sets out the case against 42 Days

Sortition and public policy

A major new series from Imprint Academic on the use of randomisation in education, politics and other public policy areas. Special discount prices for OurKingdom and openDemocracy readers.

Labour After Brown

The next left -Life after the Labour Party: Gerry Hassan sees a historic opportunity for the emergence of a post-New Labour left.

Scottish Labour, where's the coffee?: Gerry Hassan assesses the prospects for Scottish Labour and its new leader.

Lesson for the Left from Chile to Britain: Hassan Akram offers a global perspective on Labour's malaise.

From Milibland to Johnson land?: Jeremy Gilbert argues for Labour without neo-liberalism.

Magical thinking on Britishness: Anthony Barnett critiques Liam Byrne on fraternity.

Rule of law at risk: Geoffrey Bindman calls for a turn away from the marketisation of government.

A new Bill of Rights for Britain?: Guy Aitchison analyses Parliament's proposed new Bill of Rights.

Miliband - by our rights we will know you: Claire O'Brien puts forward a new progressive vision for Labour.

Recapturing liberal Britain: David Marquand challenges Labour's constitutional orthodoxy.

Miliband and the Liberal Democrats: James Graham on the case for realignment.

What is Labour's British story?: Writing from Scotland, Gerry Hassan widens the OurKingdom debate on Labour's future.

This is not Brown's crisis but Britain's: David Marquand says social democracy is bust and Britain may be too.

The Challenges for Miliband's Progressive Fusion: Fabian Society head Sunder Katwala responds to David Miliband.

America Votes, Europe Responds: Fabian Society conference on the US election result, Westminster Central Hall, 10am to 4pm, Saturday 8th November.

Visit the new Fabian Society blog: Next Left

England Awakes?

England, Britain and multiculturalism: an OurKingdom exchange

A mild awakening?, England's turn? by David Goodhart

openDemocracy

OurKingdom Tags

Wales Uncategorized Scotland Parliament Northern Ireland Media Local democracy Labour Party Gordon Brown EU England Devolution Detention without charge Conservative Party Brown's reforms Britishness

Navigation

| | | | | | | |

26 - 03 - 2008

Tom Griffin (London, The Green Ribbon) Constitutional reformers are spoilt for choice in Scotland at the moment. A day after the Labour /Lib Dem /Tory announcement that Sir Kenneth Calman will head the Commission to Review the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Government has unveiled the second phase of its National Conversation.

Speaking at the launch, Alex Salmond challenged his unionist rivals to submit their proposals to a referendum:

We in the Scottish Government believe that sovereignty lies with the people, and that the people have the right to decide how they are governed. That's why we launched a national dialogue, allowing everyone to participate in the progress of our constitutional future.

Wendy Alexander had earlier put the Commission's case for legitimacy.

Unlike the SNP's national conversation, the Commission has a genuine mandate from the Scottish Parliament and it enjoys real cross party support.

With support for independence flatlining and the Scottish Government's national conversation purely an exercise in legitimising the SNP's breakaway agenda, it is the Scottish Parliament Commission that will seek to make devolution work better for Scotland as part of the United Kingdom.

The vast majority of Scots want Scotland to walk tall but not walk out of the United Kingdom and it is the Scottish Parliament Commission that best reflects mainstream opinion in Scotland.

In the faces of charges that the National Conversation is purely a partisan exercise, the Scottish Government can point to the support of former Labour First Minister Henry McLeish. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the SNP does not currently have the votes to get a referendum through the Scottish Parliament.

The Commission process has problems of its own, not least the dispute between Labour and the Lib Dems over whether it should consider returning powers to Westminster. In his Telegraph article yesterday, Gordon Brown insisted that "an environmental Union, a security Union and a Union for defence is to the benefit of all." Significantly, the first two areas are exactly those where he has previously suggested that devolution could be reversed.

For the moment, the Commission has a fundamental advantage in the patronage of Westminster, where real power still lies, as Professor John Curtice noted in The Scotsman today:

He said the commission aimed to do two things: convince Scots of the need for more financial control and persuade the English that Scots should have more financial responsibility.

"The crucial thing about this commission is who it persuades at Westminster, because all the important decisions on this will be made at Westminster," Prof Curtice said.

On this point, one key straw in the wind is provided by a leaked report from a Downing Street meeting in January:

[Brown] opened a discussion with his colleagues on the Barnett Formula, in which he noted it would be "very difficult" to reach a consensus on changing the status quo.

This was followed by Straw urging Brown to engage on Barnett to deal with the concerns in English constituencies about the funding system. The justice secretary, in emphasising his point, noted that Scotland had higher levels of public spending than Wales and regions in the north of England.

Des Browne then agreed with Straw, saying the government had to be "proactive" on any review of the parliament's financial powers.

It was in this context that Brown said the funding issue "could not be ignored" but noted there had to be a "considerable period" of public debate on the matter.

Gordon Brown may be a reluctant convert to the cause of further devolution, but neither he nor his cabinet are immune to the pressure for change building up on both sides of the border.

OurKingdom's blog | email this blogpdf version | quote

Joe Middleton (not verified) said:

Sat, 2008-03-29 03:26

Ms Alexander said she was not a Gordon Brown puppet

During the web chat, driven by questions from BBC viewers, listeners and online users, she was asked to score herself out of 10 for her performance since being elected leader unopposed in September last year.

"Rising all the time, I think is the answer," said Ms Alexander, adding: "Ten out of 10, 10 out of 10."

And Ms Alexander also dismissed claims of arrogance against Labour politicians and said her party's fight back was under way.

She added: "Frankly, as I look across the other benches in the parliament, I don't think the arrogance is on our side.

"I think that what people are looking for are politicians who are willing to listen, I think you will see this week that conference is listening and learning."

Yet Brown claimed Alexander would be the next first minister and numerous Labour worthies claimed that the SNP were Tartan Tories despite their left wing actions in office.

I expect about as much truth from the Chinese Government as the British one nowadays. Brown's claim that Scotland benefits internationaly from the British union is strongly reminiscent of the old claims of the Soviet Union.

reply | email this commentquote

Ray Bell (not verified) said:

Fri, 2008-03-28 21:08

"Who speaks for England………….NO ONE"

The BBC actually. Most of the stuff on the so called "national" (as opposed to regional) news is about England, especially when it comes to sport.

The simplest way to deal with this is Scottish and Welsh independence.

"The entire British establishment. The Scots are lucky that they have both the Scottish nationals and the British nationalists falling over themselves to prove they’re the most pro-Scottish. "

If this was the case, why isn't there a Scottish TV channel? I can get "UK Housekeeping" and the like, but there is no Scottish TV channel other than regional opt-outs.

There may be some Scottish opportunists at Westminster, such as Gordon Brown, or even at Holyrood like Alexander, but they do not speak for Scotland. Their only interest is the furtherance of their careers.

The fact is that they are not as friendly to Scotland as may be thought. When France offered Scotland an exemption from the BSE ban, the Brits under Blair never took it, despite the fact that Scottish cattle didn't have the disease, and it could have easily have been quarantined.