Pursuing powers

I MUST take you to task for your allegation in today’s leading article (15 May) that “further constitutional change” was not on the SNP’s agenda during its general election campaign.

While it is true that the First Minister emphasised time and again that this campaign was not focused on independence or on the demand for a second independence referendum, it is equally the case that, with their leader’s full backing, all of the SNP’s candidates in the election campaigned on the basis of a demand for more powers for the Scottish Parliament, with the slogan “more seats, more powers”.

In the light of the result, the Scottish Government is perfectly entitled to expect the Westminster government to respect the democratic mandate it has decisively won for the delivery of substantial new powers – including powers over welfare and associated fiscal powers – which go far beyond the initial post-referendum recommendations of the Smith Commission.

For Mr Cameron to carry on as if nothing had happened is to treat Scotland and its legitimate constitutional aspirations with contempt.

IAN O BAYNE

Clarence Drive

Glasgow