Plan for MSPs to sit in Lords 'snubbed by Westminster'

Published on Wednesday 8 December 2004 00:24

PLANS for representatives from the Scottish Parliament to sit on a reformed House of Lords were scuppered by opposition from English MPs, it emerged yesterday.

The senior Labour MP Robin Cook revealed that as leader of the House of Commons in 2002, he wanted a portion of MSPs to sit in a new second chamber.

However, giving evidence to a Scottish Parliamentary committee, he said the idea had been fiercely opposed by Westminster colleagues because they did not think devolved administrations represented Britain.

"When I was leader of the House and trying, without ultimate success, to get a more democratic second chamber, I personally was quite keen on the idea that a portion should consist of people sent there by the devolved bodies," Mr Cook told Holyrood’s European and external relations committee.

"I ran into great difficulties," he said. "There was resistance in Westminster because devolution only covered a small part of the UK - quite a significant part, covering some 30 per cent, but a minority nonetheless."

Mr Cook also said there was little enthusiasm from the Scottish Parliament or the Executive. "We did not actually get much resonance from the Scottish Parliament or other devolved bodies," he said.

Two years ago, The Scotsman revealed that the government was negotiating with the Scottish Parliament about the prospect of MSPs sitting in the reformed House of Lords.

Mr Cook led a consultation on whether there was interest from the devolved assemblies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to contribute an indirectly elected element to the new upper house. However, the idea had to be dropped because of the opposition.

Labour plans for reform of the House of Lords have now been put on hold after failure to agree a way forward. The fact that the Queen’s speech contained no proposals on reform was seen as a clear signal that the issue has been kicked into the long grass.

Mr Cook, a former foreign secretary who left the government over his opposition to the Iraq war, was at the Scottish Parliament to give evidence to MSPs on the promotion of Scotland overseas.

John Swinney, committee convener and former Scottish National Party leader, asked Mr Cook how Scotland had been affected by the government’s decision to join the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Mr Cook said there was "a price to be paid" both by the United States and Britain, although in many parts of the world Scotland was regarded as quite distinct from England.

"There is a lot of particular goodwill towards Scotland, which I don’t think has been dented by the war in Iraq, but we as Britain as a whole have suffered," he said.

Mr Cook also explained his decision to argue against the establishment of a dedicated UK government ministry of Europe a few years ago.

"The reality is that you can’t separate a domestic policy from its international dimension," the Livingston MP said.

Speaking after the committee meeting, Mr Cook appeared to rule himself out of standing for Holyrood - at least in the short term. "I will represent the people of Livingston for as long as they want me to," he said.