By Keith Aitken in Edinburgh | 10 March 2014
Senior Labour and Liberal Democrat politicians today unveiled new fiscal proposals to strengthen devolution, following criticisms that the No campaign for the Scottish independence referendum has been too negative.
Former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown, in a lunchtime speech in Glasgow, called for fiscal ‘power sharing’ between Holyrood and Westminster, with increased tax-raising powers for the Scottish Parliament, combined with partnerships with London to address poverty, housing, unemployment and other social issues.
Meanwhile, former LibDem leader Sir Menzies Campbell has updated his 2012 Home Rule Commission report for his party, which proposed giving Holyrood control over raising some two-thirds of its own taxes within a federal structure that would include English regional assemblies.
The new version, he said in a radio interview this morning, would take account of views held by other opponents of independence and aim to create the basis for an eventual consensus on new tax-raising powers for Holyrood. But he admitted that the process would not be completed inside 18 months. ‘We will deliver as soon as is practicable,’ he said.
Brown’s proposals came as a personal contribution to Labour’s constitutional commission, which is due to report later this month. The commission’s interim report, published last year, suggested giving Holyrood full control over income tax and has deeply divided opinion in Labour ranks.
Brown’s ideas are cast in a UK-wide context. ‘I want to move us from the old highly-centralised, uniform Britain dominated by out-of-date ideas of an undivided Westminster sovereignty to a new diverse power-sharing, risk-sharing, resource-sharing UK which is best defined not as an old union but as a modern, constitutional partnership of nations,’ he said ahead of the speech.
A key proposal is fiscal power-sharing, which would aim to balance UK-wide resource-sharing with accountability to territorial voters for how money is spent. It would be accompanied by power-sharing partnerships to address a range of social problems, and increased powers for Holyrood over health, economic development, employment and transport.
In addition, Brown wants to see a new legal framework to define the way power is shared across Britain. This would both entrench the Scottish Parliament as a permanent entity, and facilitate a ‘radical’ transfer of powers from both parliaments to local communities.
‘We need to draw up a statement of purpose, that we pool and share resources and risks for the benefit of all,’ he said.
Brown is expected to flesh out his proposals in a series of rallies in coming weeks. The Scottish Conservatives also have a commission, chaired by Lord Strathclyde, which is examining options for further reforming devolution and is scheduled to report next month.
Meanwhile, a report tomorrow from the Institute of Public Policy Research will suggest that the UK’s devolved administrations should be given an increased welfare role, including responsibility for Housing Benefit and the Work Programme, as well as a right to top up UK benefits to reflect local circumstance and preference.
IPPR associate director Guy Lodge said: ‘Welfare devolution would improve policy without undermining the fundamental level of shared UK-wide social citizenship. This is a win/win outcome, while Scotland going it alone would inhibit its ability to provide a stable and resilient form of social protection.’
