Devolution and the Union

Rory Stewart Excerpts

Thursday 20th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Angus Robertson]

I was coming on to make the point that the Scottish National party and the Scottish Government continue to believe that Scotland should, and will in the future, be independent. However, we accept both the result of the referendum on 18 September and the fact that independence will not be the outcome of the Smith commission. What is beyond doubt is that the people of Scotland expect early and substantial change. I am not talking about something that is dependent on English votes for English laws—much as I have sympathy with that as an issue—the West Lothian question or the subsidy argument, from which many people in Scotland will recoil.

[Rory Stewart (Penrith and The Border) (Con)]

rose—

[Angus Robertson]

Forgive me, I have already taken interventions and want to make some progress. It is likely that I will be the only Member who speaks on behalf of the 1.6 million people who voted yes for independence in the referendum.

What is beyond doubt is that the people of Scotland expect early and substantial change—change that will give the Scottish Parliament the further powers and responsibilities that it needs to tackle the challenges facing Scotland in a way that responds to the views and votes of people in Scotland. That is what was promised in the referendum campaign, and it is what people now expect to be delivered without any conditions.

--- Later in debate ---

[Angus Robertson]

We are respectful of the Smith process and I await the outcome of the commission. I look forward with great optimism to its proposals being those for which we would all wish.

Scotland should get the financial benefits as well as having the tools to manage the risks of its new responsibilities, and the Scottish Government’s responsibility for all welfare policy and administration should be devolved. As a priority, that should involve all working-age benefits. In the meantime, the roll-out of universal credit and the personal independence payment in Scotland should be halted to ensure that the practical ability to devolve individual benefits is not compromised.

Employment and employability policy, including responsibility for setting the minimum wage and all employability programmes, should also be devolved. Equal opportunities and the equality policy should be devolved. I could go on, because there are many further powers that should be devolved, and that is not just the view of the Scottish National party. The public have been asked about them in a range of academic studies and a series of polls, and it is important that Members are aware of the strength of feeling on these matters.

[Rory Stewart]

On that point, will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Angus Robertson]

I have not even read out the statistics yet. I ask the hon. Gentleman to wait to hear them.

In the most recent survey, conducted by Panelbase, 71% of respondents said that they wanted control of all taxation raised in Scotland, 66% wanted control of all areas of Government policy except defence and foreign affairs, which is sometimes referred to as devo-max, 75% wanted control of welfare and benefits, 65% wanted control of policy on the state pension, and 68% wanted control over oil, gas and tax revenues generated in Scottish waters. The list goes on.

[Rory Stewart]

On that point, 55% of the Scottish population expressed their wish not to have independence. Will the hon. Gentleman tell us the minimum time that he will guarantee will elapse before another referendum on independence? Is it 20 years?

[Angus Robertson]

I hope that the hon. Gentleman and I agree that such a question will be posed when the people wish it to be posed. The result was not the one that I wanted. It was a no and I am sorry about that. I would have wanted Scotland to be negotiating progress towards independence, but it is not happening now. However, I believe that it will happen in the future when the people wish it to happen.

I have very little time in which to conclude, but let me say that there should be no conditionality on what was promised in the vow. It should be delivered in full and it should not be tied to English votes for English laws or to the Barnett issue, and for that reason we will oppose the motion.

--- Later in debate ---

[John Glen]

Absolutely. I agree. I was going on to say that what our constituents want is to avoid a higher cost of politics, more politicians or irrelevant local talking shops.

The Prime Minister also promised a decisive answer to the West Lothian question in the form of English votes for English laws. I know that some hon. Members will advocate an English Parliament or English assembly. I believe that that would be the wrong reform. The Scottish people voted to stay in the United Kingdom, and this House should respect and applaud that. We should not try to break up the UK by other means; we should not make this place a hollowed out, federal senate or part-time English Parliament.

It is important, though, that we deliver a decisive answer to the West Lothian question. We are fortunate to be able to draw on careful work and thinking on this issue by colleagues on both sides of the House and people outside this place. The principle is simple. English votes for English laws demands that hon. Members from English constituencies have sole final discretion on laws that affect only England. It is not always acknowledged that that issue is related to the Barnett formula, but the formula privileges English spending just as changes in English spending create the Barnett differentials applied to the consolidated grant. For this process to continue to have legitimacy, all hon. Members must be able to have a say on English spending. No one should be excluded from speaking or voting. However, to meet the principle of sole final discretion, there must be a majority of Members from English constituencies finally in favour.

[Rory Stewart]

Does the hon. Gentleman support the McKay commission in relation to that?

[John Glen]

I was just about to say that there is a considerable body of support among Government Members in favour of the proposals for this double majority found in the McKay commission report, but it should be calibrated to ensure that sole final discretion happens in practice and is not just a convention. In the same way as the Barnett formula reform is not as simple as it first looks, I believe that this is not as simple as changing the Standing Orders, as some have suggested. Finance Bills in particular contain a mass of provisions that affect various parts of the UK in different ways. It is not enough to say that discretion can be given to Mr Speaker and his advisers as it is for identifying constitutional Bills.

We will need proposals for a clear test of what is a separate and distinct English issue, whether for a clause or for a whole Bill. These are two issues that we need to get right in order to secure a robust settlement that will endure for the future. We should not advance over-simplistic solutions, but our constituents expect considerable progress on these issues. I hope that, as a consensus emerges, we will not miss this opportunity to legislate properly for the future and to honour the commitments that were made in recent weeks.