Unionists team up to steal SNP thunder over Holyrood powers

Published on Sunday 26 August 2007 00:56

NEW powers for the Scottish Parliament, including control over taxes, will come closer this week as Unionist parties seal an historic alliance.

Leaders of the three major pro-UK parties - the LibDems, Tories and Labour - will meet for private talks to discuss a complete overhaul of the Parliament's powers.

Currently, the Scottish Parliament has the right to vary the basic rate of income tax only by up to 3p, a power which has never been used.

But now the Unionist parties are to consider looking at far more powers, such as taxes on inheritance, real estate, gambling and vehicles.

The dramatic move will be seen as a clear bid to outflank the SNP government, which two weeks ago unveiled a white paper on holding a referendum on independence.

The three Unionist parties are now attempting to grasp back the initiative and isolate the SNP, saying they are willing to consider reforms, short of an independence referendum.

However, SNP sources last night declared themselves "delighted" by the move, arguing they were forcing the pace of change.

The talks this week will see the three parties agree on a new parliamentary forum to take the matter forward. It is understood they will involve Scottish Lib Dem leader Nicol Stephen, Scottish Labour deputy leader Cathy Jamieson and former Scottish Tory leader David McLetchie.

Stephen told Scotland on Sunday: "It really isn't credible for a Parliament simply to receive a cheque for 30bn and to decide how to spend it and not to have any responsibility for how it is raised." He added: "Labour, the Liberals and the Conservatives have the majority in the Parliament and we will take this through the Parliament."

Stephen said the three parties would now agree to invite the public and leaders of civic society to have their say over reform.

As revealed in this newspaper earlier this month, one option is to have a Convention chaired by the Parliament's Presiding Officer Alex Fergusson. Other options include an ad-hoc committee of the Parliament, taking evidence on the matter.

Stephen said: "It is too early to say which of those will be preferred but that is the sort of decision that we will be making [this week]. That is the sense I get from speaking to other parties, that that is the way forward."

Stephen added that the new body would not even consider independence as one of its options, a move clearly designed to isolate the SNP.

"This is an initiative which is very different from the SNP white paper on independence because the one objective here is a stronger Parliament, not separation from the rest of the UK," he said.

He added: "I am keen that it involves the political parties, voters and civic society in the same way as the Constitutional Convention."

Wendy Alexander, soon to become Labour leader at Holyrood, declared last week she too welcomed a debate on the matter. In the past, she has backed the idea of a more "fiscally responsible" Parliament.

However, there is sure to be some resistance within Tory and Labour ranks over further transfer of powers to Holyrood. Consequently, senior Labour figures are understood to believe the forum should also debate whether some powers should be handed back to Westminster.