Scotland Bill is not more power "delivered"
THEY say if you like laws and sausages, you should never watch either one being made.
Well, hold on to your breakfast. This week, we’ll see attempts to burst open the Scotland Bill so it can be fattened with amendments.
Anyone who thinks the hastily cobbled-together Smith Commission statement from seven months ago remains a “durable settlement” is dreaming.
I took part in the Smith negotiations and we got agreement on some of my party’s key priorities, including devolution of fracking licences, fuel poverty measures and the power to bring ScotRail back into public ownership.
The commission were rushed, party-political and held behind closed doors.
We should be opening the debate up to get a deal that reflects the real needs of Scotland’s communities.
Take welfare. The Scotland Bill gives Holyrood the ability to top up certain benefits. But we’d still be at the mercy of a UK Tory Government determined to slash a further £12billion from welfare. This means Holyrood would still be mopping up someone else’s mess.
As well as arguing for a Scotland Bill that goes further on welfare, we must build broad opposition to the stigmatisation of benefits.
On jobs, the devolution of employment law, the minimum wage and workers’ rights was taken off the table during Smith at the insistence of the Labour Party. Let’s put it back at the heart of the debate.
On energy, Smith agreed there should be consultation with the Scottish Government about renewables incentives. Yet the Tories appear determined to pull the rug from under a form of energy generation with huge potential.
And the Scotland Bill is at sixes and sevens on the Crown Estate. Our land and renewable resources should be in the hands of our communities to be used for the common good.
Anyone who thinks this is more power “delivered” is hopelessly out of touch.
This piece was originally written for the Daily Record