Devolution Wranglings Could End In Stalemate
Updated: 10:16am UK, Saturday 20 September 2014
By Darren McCaffrey, Sky Political Reporter
Acclaimed as the man who helped save the Union, Gordon Brown has issued a warning following the No vote.
Amid disagreements on wider devolution plans among Westminster leaders, the former prime minister pleaded for unity and a proper timetable for further Scottish devolution.
He called on David Cameron, Nick Clegg and his own leader Ed Miliband to stick to the timetable he laid out in the final few weeks of the referendum campaign or face letting down the Scottish people.
His Scotland Act, announced a few weeks ago, would establish a new rate of income tax, devolve stamp duty and create borrowing powers for the Scottish parliament and would be implemented next year.
But with Mr Cameron promising he would honour his pledge for devolution in full with draft legislation by Burns night on January 25, why the warning?
Further devolution for Scotland, which in principle and in practice the parties mostly agree on, has become linked to wider constitutional change across the UK, upon which there is little to no agreement.
Boris Johnson summed up the thoughts of many Tory MPs when he said: "Let's not give any more sauce to the goose until we've given some sauce to the gander."
That includes English only MP votes for English only laws, or as it's known at Westminster, the West Lothian question.
The Conservatives have long campaigned against the current system seeing it as unfair, and unpopular with English voters.
Labour are less keen, simply because they have more Scottish MPs, 41 this Parliament, compared to one Conservative and have had to reply on that Scottish support in the past to get through or indeed block legislation.
So recognising the need to honour the Scottish devolution question, Labour want it to go ahead as soon as possible but decouple it from any wider constitutional reform.
And with the Liberal Democrats wanting consensus we could see political stalemate. Hence Gordon Brown's warning. So what will happen?
Labour seem unlikely to back down, claiming it is simply too big a change to rush through, so will the Conservatives blink and break the link between the two devolution issues?
Given the damage that delaying Scottish devolution may cause, the Tories may well allow it to proceed against the wish of many Conservative backbenchers.
If they do, the Tories will make some political hay - with it becoming an election issue.
In English constituencies they will claim it is Labour supporting an unfair and unpopular constitutional anomaly.
Constitutional reform in the UK has always been ad hoc, slow, incremental and uncoordinated. This time it looks like it will be no different.
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