Keep your hands off Scotland’s referendum, Cameron told
By Keith Aitken in Edinburgh | 9 January 2012
Scotland’s deputy first minister today accused David Cameron
of trying to interfere in Scottish affairs, as the British Cabinet met to
discuss forcing the pace and the scope of Holyrood’s referendum on independence
from the UK.
Over the weekend, the UK prime minister told the BBC that
the Scottish National Party government’s delay in setting a date for its
promised referendum was harming the country’s economic prospects. ‘We owe the
Scottish people something that is fair, legal and decisive,’ he said.
Cameron made clear his own strong support for the Union, but
ruled himself out of a leading role in the campaign, saying that it was for
Scots to decide.
His intervention prompted an angry response from the SNP.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: ‘This is a blatant attempt to
interfere in a decision that is rightly one for the Scottish Government in terms
of the timing of the referendum and for the Scottish people in terms of the
outcome.’
Two aspects of the referendum plans are in particular
dispute. The first is timing: First Minister Alex Salmond has said he intends
to call the vote in the second half of the Parliament, and to use the first
half to focus on economic recovery.
It is commonly understood that Salmond would like to hold
the vote in 2014: the 700th
anniversary of Scotland’s defeat of the English at Bannockburn, and a year when
both the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup will take place in Scotland.
The second issue is content. Salmond wants to offer a third
option besides independence and the devolutionary status quo: a federal
‘devo-plus’ or ‘devo-max’ formula that would give Scotland full fiscal autonomy
with an agreed proportion of revenues paid to London for shared functions such
as defence and the consular service.
Constitutional matters are reserved to Westminster, but the
expectation is that the UK Government will seek to give Holyrood power to hold
a referendum, provided it takes place within 18 months, is limited to
two-questions and is legally binding. There is also a Labour move in the Lords
to extend voting rights to Scots across the UK.
Sturgeon said: ‘The attachment of conditions is what gives
the game away – this is about Westminster seeking to interfere.
‘Referendums in the UK are always consultative and advisory
– that’s how things are. There is
no doubt about the ability of the Scottish Parliament to have a consultative
advisory referendum.’
Salmond’s decisive victory in the Scottish elections last
May makes it hard for UK politicians to judge how involved to become. Between
them, the two UK coalition parties won just 20% of the vote in Scotland, and
all three unionist parties have untried new leaders in Scotland.
But London recognises that any perception that it is out to
rig the outcome is likely to harden support for independence, which one recent
poll put at 38%, with 68% backing devo-max/plus – an outcome that would also
satisfy many in the SNP.
