Scotland Bill

William Cash Excerpts

Tuesday 21st June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Moore]

First, I confirm what my right hon. and learned Friend suggests. New clause 13 is now part of the Bill that will go to the House of Lords for scrutiny. Like him, I regret the tone of some of the remarks made against judges in the Supreme Court in recent weeks. I welcome the broad support for the idea that people in all parts of the United Kingdom should enjoy the same rights under the courts.

[Mr William Cash (Stone) (Con)]

On the application of the Human Rights Act 1998 in this context, and conceding that the Supreme Court has a special role to play, does the Secretary of State accept that some Government Members, and an increasing number of people throughout the country, feel that the Human Rights Act should be repealed, and furthermore that the whole basis on which it operates and the European convention on human rights should be reviewed?

[Michael Moore]

I welcome the hon. Gentleman to the proceedings on the Scotland Bill, albeit belatedly, and commend him for his ever sharp eye, looking for opportunities to raise matters European in the Chamber. Perhaps with some disappointment, we will have to agree to disagree on the fundamentals, but I point out that we are indeed considering human rights legislation in this country. I am sure that we will have a proper debate about that over many days and weeks.

Let me outline the key changes that we introduced on Report. First, we will bring forward to this financial year access to finance to allow work on projects, such as the Forth replacement crossing, to begin. We are removing the requirement for Scottish Ministers to absorb the first £125 million of tax forecasting variation within their budget. That will give Scottish Ministers more flexibility to decide how best to respond to any variations in tax receipts compared with forecasts. We will also allow Scottish Ministers to make discretionary payments into the Scottish cash reserve for the next five years, up to an overall total of £125 million. That will help manage any variation in Scottish income tax receipts, compared with forecasts in the initial phase of the new system.

As debated on Report, we have included a provision in the Bill to enable the Government to amend the way in which Scottish Ministers can borrow to include bond issuance. Without that power, further primary legislation would have been necessary to allow bonds to be issued by Scottish Ministers. Before that power is transferred, the Government will conduct a review of the costs and benefits of bond issuance over other forms of borrowing.

We have also strengthened the non-financial sections of the package to enable Scottish Ministers to approve the appointments of MG Alba board members, and to provide for reciprocal consultation between UK and Scottish Ministers when either make changes to electoral administration that impact on their respective responsibilities. We are devolving the power to make an order to disqualify persons from membership of the Scottish Parliament, and we intend to strengthen intergovernmental dialogue in areas of mutual interest in welfare.

Importantly, as my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for North East Fife (Sir Menzies Campbell) indicated, we are implementing the findings of the expert group appointed by the Advocate-General. There is a consensus that there is a problem with the role of the Lord Advocate under existing legislation. The Scotland Act 1998 did not properly recognise that the Lord Advocate fulfils two separate roles: one as chief prosecutor in Scotland, and the second as a Scottish Minister. Our amendment separates those two roles while retaining the consistent application of the protection of fundamental rights for those in Scotland, as exists for those in the rest of the United Kingdom. We believe that it strikes the correct balance.

We believe that the package of the Bill as amended and the supporting non-legislative measures provides the right balance of powers and responsibility for Scotland within the United Kingdom. Today’s debate marks the end of the first stage of debate on, and scrutiny of, the Bill in the House of Commons, but it is by no means the end of the process. There will be further opportunities to consider, debate and amend the Bill in their lordships’ House.

However, as hon. Members will be aware, the Scottish Government have asked for further amendments to the Bill. We have made it clear that we will listen and that we are willing to consider further amendments if they satisfy some key tests. First, any further amendments must be based on detailed proposals. We must be convinced, by evidence and detailed analysis, to support any amendments to a package that we believe provides Scotland with the right balance of responsibility and accountability. Secondly, any further amendments must demonstrate that they will deliver clear benefits to Scotland, without prejudice to the rest of the United Kingdom. Thirdly, any further amendments must generate cross-party consensus, which the measures set out in the Bill have achieved.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ann McKechin]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady, a fellow lawyer. I do not want to turn this into a lawyers’ conference, however, lest anyone should suspect that we have vested interests. More seriously, this is about the tone of the debate and about the relationship between the Executive and the judiciary, which forms the foundation of our democracy.

I noted in this week’s Sunday Herald that some of the First Minister’s own Ministers and MSPs apparently refer to him in private as the “Dear Leader”. References to any similarity with North Korea might seem comical, but this display fits in better with a paranoid one-party state than with a modern, progressive, advanced 21st-century democracy. I certainly do not believe that everyone who supports the SNP or wishes for independence follows that creed—Jim Sillars is a good example of someone who believes in independence but also believes in listening to other people’s arguments—but it certainly has a home within the SNP “cybernat” sphere.

[Mr Cash]

Does the hon. Lady acknowledge that the real problem is that this dispute is not so much about the Supreme Court as about the application of the Human Rights Act 1998 to the Supreme Court? For practical purposes, the Scots are entitled to their criminal law, and that has been the case since the inception of the Union.

[Ann McKechin]

The hon. Gentleman has very particular views about European human rights legislation, but I support it 100%. I believe that the Human Rights Act enhances our legal system, and it is important that people in Scotland should receive the same level of protection as everyone else. The Act is a UK-wide piece of legislation, and it is important that judgments should be made consistently. Accordingly, it is right that there should be one ultimate Court of Appeal that makes important decisions on key points of principle. The Cadder decision, which the right hon. and learned Member for North East Fife (Sir Menzies Campbell) mentioned, was one such decision. It is important to have consistency of judgment, which is one of the parts of our judicial process.

Like most people in Scotland, my domicile arises from birth and not from choice, but I believe that I am exceptionally fortunate to have been born in Scotland at this time in history and I am proud to be a Scot. However, I totally renounce any attempt to mould the politics and culture of the country that I love into one that is marked by a constant placing of the “good Scot versus bad Scot” concept into the dialogue of our public life. That is both dangerous and destructive, and represents a threat to genuine debate. The tactics of the playground bully should form no part of a modern, open Scotland.

Scotland’s legal systems, like any other area of our public life, need to be open to ideas from the outside, and not just from its own legislature. In fact, many of our oldest precepts and concepts are borrowed from a wide combination of other European systems—French, Dutch and Roman as well as English. We have also learned from cases that have occurred in England. It was because we are part of the United Kingdom that one of the most famous cases of tort and delict in civil law, Donoghue v. Stevenson, which took place in my own home town of Paisley, spread across the world. When we genuinely look outwards, we perform at our best; when we revert to inward, defensive complacency, we let our nation down.

This has been an important debate on the future that we see for Scotland. As the Secretary of State has said, the debate will continue over the weeks and months to come, but I want to ensure that it takes place in the context of the hard, reasoned evidence that the Scots demand of us, and that it can be clearly shown to be for their benefit.