Scotland’s next step? More power

EDINBURGH, Friday

Scotland may have rejected independence but will now be handed new powers by Britain which could amount to effective home rule — though experts warn that agreeing to these could be messy.

“Devo max” — greater powers which fall short of full independence — was however, not on the referendum ballot paper.

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday promised to grant new powers to all parts of the United Kingdom after separatists in Scotland won 1.5 million votes in an independence referendum but were beaten by pro-unity supporters.

“Just as the people of Scotland will have more power over their affairs, so it follows that the people of England, Wales and Northern Ireland must have a bigger say over theirs,” he said.

UNITY

The PM also called for unity saying that the argument had been settled “for a generation”.

“Now is the time for our United Kingdom to come together and to move forward,” Cameron said in a speech in front of his office at 10 Downing Street.

Analysts say London needs effectively to hand Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond full control of domestic policy — and even this may not kill off calls for another independence referendum.

Negotiations will now start between Cameron’s Conservatives, coalition partners the Liberal Democrats and the main opposition Labour party on what extra powers to give the Scottish Parliament, which was set up in 1999 and already controls areas like health and education.

A policy paper due in November will outline what these new steps will be. They are likely to include greater control over taxation and some state benefits payments.

UNLIKELY TIMETABLE
Draft laws on decentralisation could then be ready by January.

This fast timetable was agreed when Britain’s former prime minister Gordon Brown stepped into the debate after an opinion poll just 10 days before the vote gave the “Yes” camp a lead.

Brown has promised Scotland “nothing less than a modern form of home rule.”

Polls suggest this would be popular with the public.

Asked what should happen next after a “No” vote, 67 per cent said Scotland’s parliament should take primary responsibility for tax and welfare benefits, according to poll trackers What Scotland Thinks in August.

NOT FEASIBLE
But some say Brown’s timescale is too fast to be realistic given differences between the three parties on what they are prepared to give away.

“To rush headlong into new legislation may curry favour in the short term but is unlikely to provide a lasting settlement,” wrote Professor Nicola McEwen of Edinburgh University in a blog this month.

McEwen told AFP that Salmond’s Scottish National Party, in power north of the border, is also likely to put forward its own proposals “which would look completely different to what is on the table now.”

Assuming an agreement can be reached for Scotland, it would increase pressure for more powers to be handed to other parts of the United Kingdom — the English regions plus Wales and Northern Ireland.