Devolution and the Union

Sandra Osborne Excerpts

Thursday 20th November 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Alan Reid (Argyll and Bute) (LD)]

I congratulate those hon. Members who secured this important debate today.

Just two months ago, the Scottish people voted decisively in favour of remaining within the United Kingdom. Following that decisive vote, the Government kept their promises and moved quickly to set up the Smith commission to convene cross-party talks and an engagement process across Scotland. The timetable agreed by both the Government and the Opposition involves the Smith commission reporting at the end of next week, draft legislation to implement their findings to be published by 25 January and that legislation being passed in the early stages of the next Parliament. That is the timetable that was promised by the leaders of the three main parties in the run-up to polling day in the referendum, and it is essential that it is adhered to.

So far, the timetable has been adhered to. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State published a Command Paper before the end of October; in fact it was a couple of weeks early. The Smith commission is working, and there is every indication that it will publish its proposals, as planned, by the end of next week, and I assume the rest of the timetable will also be adhered to.

Of course constitutional change must be fair to the whole of the United Kingdom, and I am sure that in the coming years we will see further progress on devolution for the other nations and regions of the United Kingdom, but further powers for the Scottish Parliament must not be held up while those debates take place in the other parts of the UK.

[Sandra Osborne (Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) (Lab)]

Will the hon. Gentleman also note that all of the party leaders said in the vow that the Barnett formula should continue?

[Mr Reid]

The hon. Lady is perfectly correct. That was a vow that was made by the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, and I would expect that vow to be kept.