Forsyth calls for Westminster commission on independence

The Government should set up an independent commission to report on the benefits of keeping the United Kingdom as one country, a former Scottish Secretary said today.

Tory Lord Forsyth of Drumlean made the suggestion in the light of the pledge from the Scottish National Party (SNP) to hold an independence referendum before the next Scottish elections.

At question time in the House of Lords, Lord Forsyth asked: “Will you give consideration to the idea of establishing an independent commission to look at the benefits of the Union to the United Kingdom as a whole and to look at the consequences of separation - given the nationalists are determined to hold a referendum on separation - so that everyone can see what the consequences would be and what the facts are.”

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Advocate general for Scotland Lord Wallace of Tankerness, answering for the Government, said he was not in a position to accept Lord Forsyth’s proposal, but he would consider it.

He added: “In the meantime we will not wait for the setting up of any commission that may come along. We will continue to make the case for the United Kingdom.”

Another former Scottish secretary, Tory Lord Lang of Monkton, asked: “If the Greeks can organise a referendum in four weeks, why should it take four years to organise one in Scotland?

“Isn’t the idea of the Scottish national administration in Edinburgh organising a referendum on independence a bit like a plaintiff presiding over their own case in court when seeking a divorce?”

He said the British Government and Parliament should “take hold of this issue” and conduct a referendum as soon as possible with “one simple question” asking Scots whether they wanted to leave the UK.

Lord Wallace said that one simple question was “key” and warned against “any muddying of the water”.

He added: “The UK Government has been pressing the Scottish government to come clean as to what their timings would be and more specifically what they actually mean by independence. The Secretary of State for Scotland has posed a number of questions and we are still waiting for answers.”