Alex Fergusson calls for increase in fiscal powers for Scotland

FORMER Holyrood presiding officer Alex Fergusson has criticised the Scotland Bill as “unsatisfactory” in a strongly worded attack on plans to hand new powers to the Scottish Parliament.

The Conservative MSP, one of his party’s most senior figures at Holyrood, said he wanted MSPs to have enough financial powers to allow the parliament to be able to raise a “considerable percentage” of the money spent north of the Border.

His support for extended powers goes further than the position of newly elected Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, who said legislation going through the Commons should be the “line in the sand”. Mr Fergusson, who backed Murdo Fraser in the leadership election over his proposals for a centre-right split from David Cameron’s UK party, insisted that his “personal” views about greater powers for MSPs were known to his party leader.

He also issued a warning that supporters of the union would only be able to make “the question of independence disappear” by backing a new “constitutional solution”.

Mr Fergusson is one three senior MSPs from the main opposition parties asked to take part in a group launched by leading think-tank Reform Scotland to look at much greater fiscal powers for the Scottish Parliament, along with Labour’s Malcolm Chisholm and former Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Tavish Scott.