Leader: A question of compromise

Alex Fergusson, a Conservative MSP and former presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, has made an interesting intervention in the constitutional debate.

He has joined the ranks of those Tories who think that their party should seek to go further in devolving financial powers to the Scottish Parliament than is intended in the present Scotland Bill now approaching its final legislative stages at Westminster.

He is, in our view, right to suggest that devolution of more tax powers is the correct way to make Scottish politicians more fiscally responsible. As he says, elected MSPs cannot be truly accountable to the electorate without having the responsibility of raising via taxes a considerable percentage of what they spend.

But he is misguided in suggesting that this is also the way to take the question of Scottish independence off the political agenda for 50 years. Setting up the Scottish Parliament was intended to do that and the Scotland Bill was meant to head off the SNP at the constitutional pass. Both have manifestly failed in that objective.

The only way to settle the independence matter, one way or the other, is to let the Scottish people decide it in a referendum. The remaining question is whether that referendum should contain a second option of enhanced powers falling well short of independence. On the wisdom of doing that, there is still a debate to be had.