The white paper was announced by Alex Salmond today and although I have been unable to see footage of the event or read the 'Your Scotland, Your Voice' publication, I do understand that there are four options for constitutional reform being examined:
- Status Quo
- Limited further powers for Holyrood
- Significant further powers for Holyrood
- Full independence
I don't know anyone in their right mind who could argue with that synopsis of the current crossroads that we as a nation find ourselves in and I must admit to momentarily reconsidering my words of warning over going all out for a referendum when I heard Tavish Scott and Annabel Goldie getting tied in knots on Good Morning Scotland, not to mention Iain Gray getting turned inside out and knocked about by Mike Russell on The Politics Show.
The SNP speak this language fluently and the unionist parties clearly don't.
Brian Taylor believes today "felt more tactical than evangelical" and no doubt for good reason. (Incidentally, I tried the evangelical on The Steamie this morning, I don't think I pulled it off!)
The most important aspect of today seems to be the splitting up of the 'more powers' option. Previously it was rather vague as what this option actually entailed and, no doubt as a consequence, was reasonably popular with the public.
Splitting the option up to 'a few extra powers on airguns and broadcasting' or 'full fiscal autonomy' is a very wise move indeed.
I reckon the media and political opposition are wasting time if they believe the immediate all-or-nothing goal is to win independence. Brian Taylor seems to focus unnecessarily heavily on that mere one of the four options available to us.
Thankfully Ben Thomson of Reform Scotland is not so blinkered:
‘Under the Calman recommendations and now this White Paper, the Scottish Parliament will still be dependent on a block grant from Westminster for more than two-thirds of its budget.
‘The biggest weakness of these proposals is that they do not deliver financial accountability. Real financial accountability requires that a government is responsible for raising all, or at least the vast majority, of the revenue that it requires to meet its spending commitments.
‘If additional fiscal powers are to have a real impact on the governance of Scotland and on the performance of the Scottish economy, they must be of a scale that is great enough to address the fundamental defect of the current devolution settlement – its lack of financial accountability.’
Getting full fiscal autonomy in the short term, which increasingly seems achievable with Cameron in Number 10, would be a wonderful victory for the Nationalist camp and an enormous step towards independence.
Yes, the current UK Government has its white paper involving a messy fudge on more financial powers for Holyrood and that may prove tricky in getting the SNP's message out in May but the General Election will blow this cynical paper away for good and with a Tory administration already seeming to appreciate that fiscal autonomy is at least a valid option, there are reasons to be hopeful for a more appropriate constitutional arrangement in the near future.
Cameron may have already ruled out constitutional reform in his first parliamentary term as Prime Minister but he would be handing a gift to Alex Salmond if he did so. Goldie signing up to Calman and standing still clearly not being an option in poll after poll results in only one option for PM Cameron. A bold course of action on Scotland's devolved arrangement.
The Scottish people won't want the status quo but they're not yet convinced of independence. So if the real choice comes down to a few extra small powers and a few extra beefy, big-boy powers, I have a strong suspicion that I know which side public opinion will fall down on.
Salmond vs Trump
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10 comments:
I honestly believe that the Scottish public couldn't give a toss about this, its been like watching the twilight zone over the last 10 years.
Scottish people go to the polls every four years and then switch off, politicians then spend that four years arsing around with the voting system and our constitution. Scottish public then go to the polls or find that over 100,000 of them end up with their votes binned last time. Next time, they could end up with Holyrood running even more of their lives.
And all the politicians think they are outsmarting each other with their strategies and politiking. The only people getting screwed are the public, and we are being made to pay vast sums for the privilege.
Independence or Calman? Talk about fiddling with the foundations while the economy is being flushed down the drain.
Fitalass (or ChristinaD)
Strange that you think that Scots don't care about their constitutional status. In the referendum on devolution, 74% of the votes were for the restoration of Scotland's Parliament and 64% voted for it to have taxation powers. Your lot lost decisively.
Now your party claims devolution to have been a great success (presumably because PR gets you some MSPs), and you might even increase its powers.
In the most recent poll, 66% wanted increased powers for the Scottish Parliament.
Yes I am Fitalass, ChristinaD and a Tory. I use the first name because the other half blogs under the name Fitaloon. Why the need to 'unmask' me on this blog regularly when its pretty evident who I am?
The Scottish public voted for Devolution, but that doesn't make the fact they don't give a toss about all this hot air any less valid.
Here's a simple prediction, the SNP vote will continue to decline in the next fews months as they go on the attack over that referendum and Calman trying to score political points against their opponents.
The opposition parties will go the attack by nailing the current SNP administration over the bread and butter issues on doorstep. The economy, crime, council cuts, NHS, immigration and education etc.
Some say that Cameron is taking a hit in the polls before the GE over the fact he won't call a post ratification referendum on Lisbon. And that was something that the public would have voted no too.
Salmond is supposedly an economist, and he has been in charge right through the whole economic crisis in Scotland. And he is determined to wave his white paper around on Independence etc.
The Tories are the only main stream party which is Eurosceptic, and the majority of the public are too. Yet they walked away from that referendum on this issue at this time. The comparisons with what the SNP are doing right now is quite stark. We will soon find out who made the right decision at the right time in the GE and in Holyrood.
Who said that 'fiddling' with the foundations is a bad thing? A building can only stand if it has strong foundations. It means everything. The economy will get back on its feet if people feel a sense of belonging to a community, and will therefore feel more willing to give in order to ensure the prosperity of their community. Scots need more pride in their identity. Self determination would increase that sense of belonging, and would give Scots more of a sense of ownership over their lives and their nations future.
The public don't care about this issue because Christina says they don't.
That should be enough for everyone to be going on with.
It is interesting isn';t it Jeff, the division of the unionist camp is a key tactical move and about time too.
There isn't a pan unionist alliance of any sort, the reality is that there is a range of views and I think you've quite rightly acknowledged that the paper does indeed reflect what was said during the conversation and what we see on blogs.
Devolution max is going to cause the unionist parties no end of problems with the moderates in the hardline unionist camps breaking out and and increasing public voice asking for substantial new powers.
Many I suspect will be more than a little bemused that Brown and Murphy have sought to blame the recession on 'Scottish' banks and will no doubt feel aggrieved at that kind of sentiment, which might even be enough to move old fashioned Tories towards fiscal autonomy if for nothing else to disprove that myth once and for all.
Whatever happens, the next six months are going to be crucial to the constitutional history of this nation.
My own view is that Devolution Max will be the perfect stepping stone towards independence.
As afghanistan drags on, nuclear stations start to appear in England and trident begins it's renewal, the next step will be easy.
"The public don't care about this issue because Christina says they don't."
Ohh, bitchy, but a complete giveaway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SJBVeHri-Q&feature=channel
Mike Russell, Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond present the white paper, for anyone who's interested.
PS - It's past 2am and I'm commenting...am I officially a cyber nat?:(
SNP media chiefs turn to the expert for help indeed!
Kept quiet about that one!!
A good summary Jeff.
Things are not so clear cut on Dev Max or Fiscal control.
Nobody is currently pushing this option. Someone has to formalize and argue for this to get it included. We are far from this today.
Labour will push Calman at the GE, overstating its importance.
Tories will avoid constitutional argument whenever possible.
SNP are driving for full independence.
So there is still a Dev MAX vacuum that nobody is really forced to address or debate.
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