Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness

‘Power devolved is power retained’. After ten years of regional government for Scotland the integrity of Enoch Powell’s maxim is far from proven. As a unionist, instinctively I recoil from suggestions that further reserved powers should be delegated to Edinburgh, or indeed to the regional assemblies in Cardiff and Belfast. Surely this type of tinkering can only emasculate our national Parliament at Westminster and compound the asymmetries which Labour’s constitutional experiment has inflicted upon the United Kingdom? Is there any plausible argument against the contention that the cords and bonds which hold together the Union are tied looser now than they were before devolution was introduced? It is with deep ambivalence , therefore, that I consider the report (PDF) of the Calman Commission and its recommendations for constitutional reform which it argues would help the Scottish institutions serve their people better. Although I am innately suspicious of any movement on reserved ...

Below my post on the Calman Commission's interim report, the Little Man highlights a Liberal Democrat response. It would be hilarious, if it weren’t for the fact the Lib Dems purport to be (nominally) a unionist party. “One senior Liberal told The Herald: "My heart sinks. How could they do this? The whole point of our view is fiscal autonomy. How can we have any faith in the rest of this exercise? Ruling this out runs against everything I believe in."” How could they do this? Simple. They took on board what you believe in and decided that, on balance, it is a stupid idea with the potential to damage Scotland’s place in the Union. Tavish Scott, the party’s leader in Scotland, also issued a statement calling for ‘a real home rule settlement’. The commission’s role is to deliver effective devolution to Scotland within the Union. It has a duty to consider detrimental effects which suggested changes might have upon the United Kingdom as a whole. With its cosy relation...

O’Neill and Little Man in a Toque have proved quick out of the blocks on the Calman Commission interim report. I’ve only made my way (rather swiftly) through the summary PDF but although the documents will require more scrutiny, it is worth sketching out a little of the detail and perhaps outlining a few initial thoughts. Apologies, but my assessment is rather rushed. Firstly, notwithstanding the SNP’s attempts to establish unofficial separate Scottish representatives in foreign climes, the report is unequivocal in its recommendation that Westminster will “continue to be responsible for national defence and security, representing Scotland in international affairs”. It correctly asserts, “within a nation state, this is clearly the right solution”. The document does acknowledge that devolution offers a basis for different financial and welfare arrangements operating in different regions of the United Kingdom. However it infers that such variations might compromise common social ...