Following the publication of the Final Report of the Commission on Scottish Devolution (otherwise known as the Calman Commission after the Chancellor of Glasgow University, Sir Kenneth Calman, who chaired the Commission) last June, on 25th November 2009 Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy MP announced the publication of a White Paper* on the future governance of Scotland.

In his statement to the House of Commons, Mr Murphy said that the Government accepted the bulk of the recommendations which fell within the Calman Commission’s remit adding “Since the first day of devolution, the Scottish Government has been accountable for how it spends taxpayers’ money. Under today’s proposals they will also be held to account for how they raise it”. As well as affording the Scottish Government powers over raising and lowering income tax in Scotland, the White Paper proposes that the Scottish Government would get limited borrowing powers and control over stamp duty, landfill tax, and the aggregates levy, a tax on businesses quarrying or dredging for sand, gravel and rock. Powers over other areas including airguns and drink-drive limits would also be devolved to Holyrood.

Holyrood is funded by an annual grant from Westminster. Under the Calman proposals, income tax rates in Scotland would be reduced by 10p in the pound across all bands and Scotland’s grant reduced by the amount correspondingly lost to the Treasury: about £4 billion a year. The Scottish Parliament would decide the income tax rate to apply to make up its budget.

The Scottish Secretary's statement came a week after the Queen’s Speech when, in her Loyal Address to open the new session of the United Kingdom Parliament, the Queen announced that the Government would respond to the findings of the Calman Commission. Mr Murphy said a new Scotland Bill would be published after the general election if Labour is returned to power but, although the new powers may not be devolved/transferred to Holyrood for another six years, they would nevertheless become law before the Holyrood elections in 2015. In that sense, the impending General Election in Scotland could well be perceived as a fight for the heart and soul of the Scottish people, as to whether they support the nominally unionist (albeit with a small “u”) Labour Party or the separatist Scottish National Party, as well as affording the electorate an opportunity to express their confidence (or otherwise) in the outgoing Labour Government at Westminster, led by a scot!

Replying to Jim Murphy’s statement in the House of Commons, Shadow Scottish Secretary David Mundell MP claimed that "Conservatives accept that the Scottish Parliament needs to be more financially accountable, that the devolution settlement needs to be tidied up, and that Westminster and Holyrood need to start working constructively together for the good of Scotland and Britain” but added that the Tories would do this through a White Paper of their own, rather than acquiescing with the Brown Government's proposals.

Coming, the publication of the White Paper* did, two days after the House of Commons’ Welsh Affairs Select Committee announced its own inquiries have uncovered problems relating to the understanding and observation of the devolution settlement within Whitehall, and poor consultation with Welsh stakeholders – and that it had decided to undertake a new inquiry into co-operation and consultation between Wales and Whitehall, to examine (i). awareness of the devolution settlement within the civil service and of the protocols which are in place in relation to legislation and policy affecting Wales; (ii). the role of the Wales Office and the Ministry of Justice; (iii). the extent of communication between Whitehall, the Welsh Assembly Government, the National Assembly for Wales and Welsh MPs; (iv). the review of Whitehall guidance on devolution, announced by the Ministry of Justice in response to the Committee's report on the Legal Services Commission; and (v). taking forward the findings of the Justice Select Committee in its recent substantial report "Devolution: A Decade On" – one cannot help feeling there is an urgent need for a wide-ranging debate on the disparities of devolution throughout the United Kingdom and what further powers (if any) should be devolved to the National Assembly for Wales, Northern Ireland Assembly and the Scottish Parliament, and/or whether now England needs (as some advocate) an English Parliament, to address these inequalities and maintain the Union of the United Kingdom, against the Machiavellian efforts of Welsh, Scottish and Irish Nationalists – not forgetting English Nationalists (who, although they may not have any directly-elected representatives in the UK Parliament, are nevertheless increasingly vocal) - who seek to destroy the Union of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

* NB Copies of the Government’s White Paper "Scotland’s Future In The United Kingdom" are available from The Stationery Office @ £14.35 or can be read on-line (using Adobe reader) at Scotland Office - UK Government agrees new powers to strengthen Devolution.

As the Commission on Scottish Devolution has now concluded its work, contact details are no longer available for the Chairman or the Secretariat. Copies of the Calman Report can, however, be read on-line (again using Adobe Reader) at Commission on Scottish Devolution whilst follow-up queries about the Commission and the implementation of its recommendations should be directed to The Scotland Office, Dover House, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2AU, Tel. (020) 7270 6760.