My response to the UK Scottish Referendum Consultation

I have responded to the UK Government's consultation on the Scottish Independence Referendum and enclose my comments verbatim below. I would strongly encourage all, regardless of their political persuasion, to make their views known so that we get the most considered and appropriate result. Constitutional law is not something to be treated as a political weapon (by either side of this debate) and legal clarity is imperative.

To whom it concerns,

Please find attached the document containing my response to the consultation document published by the UK Government in respect of the delivery of a legal and impartial referendum on Scotland's constitutional future. I trust that the UK Government is content to give considerable ground on its assumed position, which I consider to be untenable on a number of grounds into which I elaborate through my responses.

Kind Regards,

Graeme Cowie

Q 1: What are your views on using the order making power provided in the Scotland Act 1998 to allow the Scottish Parliament to legislate for a legal referendum in an Act of the Scottish Parliament?

A: This is probably the most appropriate cause of action, given the s30 procedure requires proper consultation with the Scottish Parliament itself. The alternative would be to make for such a provision as an amendment to the current Scotland Bill, which has its merits in certain respects which I shall elaborate on in question 3 and also in 4-6.

Q 2: What are your views on the UK Parliament legislating to deliver a referendum on independence?

A: Clearly it has the legal power to do so (unlike the Scottish Parliament at present), but on a principled constitutional level and on a basic political level this would be incredibly stupid. Not only would it lend itself to allegations that Westminster was “dictating” the terms of a referendum to an SNP administration with a clear political mandate on the matter, but it would also allow English, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs a say on the formulation of the questions. This is a matter for Scotland and its representatives alone.

Q 3: What are your views on whether the Scotland Bill should be used either to:
i) give the Scottish Parliament the power to legislate for a referendum; or
ii) directly deliver a referendum?

A: As I explained in response to Q 1, there is an argument for doing the first of these rather than issuing a s30 order, which I will elaborate upon later. As for the second, I emphatically reject it for the reasons highlighted in my response to Q 2.

Q 4: What are your views on the oversight arrangements for a referendum on Scottish independence?

A: In general terms, I agree that there should be constitutional consistency of matters of franchise and performance of electoral procedure by the existing bodies. However, I would draw attention to one of the recommendations from the Calman Commission, a provision supported by all of the parties with representation in the Scottish Parliament, that matters such as the franchise and the arrangements for local and Scottish Parliamentary elections should be devolved in the Scotland Bill down to Holyrood. The UK Government's decision not to implement this proposal through the primary legislation should be revisited. It logically follows that if Holyrood is to be allowed to set the franchise conditions for those elections, that it should control similar functions for any referendum which only applies to Scotland.

Q 5: Do you think the Electoral Commission should have a role in overseeing a referendum on Scottish independence?

A: Yes I believe that the Electoral Commission is the appropriate body for oversight of the referendum. I do not believe a Referendum Commission set up separately (regardless whether it is set-up by Holyrood or Westminster) is either necessary or expedient. The EC has shown itself perfectly capable of carrying out both UK-wide and devolved referendum oversight without any questions of impartiality.

Q 6: What are your views on which people should be entitled to vote in a Scottish independence referendum?

A: In general terms, those who should be allowed to vote should be the same as those who are eligible to vote in the Scottish Parliamentary elections. I notice that this question omits to respond to a key area of contention, which relates to the age at which people should be allowed to vote. Without entering into the politics (e.g. accusations of opportunism on one side, and of inconsistency by some on the other) my response to this should be understood in the context of my response to Q 4. The franchise arrangements for Scotland-only elections and referenda should be a matter for the Scottish Parliament to decide. On the principle, I believe they should be allowed to lower the voting age to 16 should they so desire, but it should be done for all Scottish elections through an Act of Scottish Parliament at some point within the next twelve months once the Scotland Bill (with my recommended amendments) passes into law.

Q 7: What are your views on the timing of a referendum?

A: This should be a matter principally for the Scottish Parliament. Contrary to the suggestion in the document, there should be no “sunset clause” of any kind in the event the power is extended either through a s30 order or through the Scotland Bill. The SNP have indicated they wish to hold it in the Autumn of 2014, which is a date completely within the scope of their manifesto pledge and they should be entitled to move forward on that basis.

A reasonable restriction may be that the power may only be invoked once in X number of years (to prevent perpetual referendums on the same issue) but as a matter of expediency, that matter should be agreed upon in advance with the Scottish Government. I note that Alex Salmond has said that this issue is very much a “once in a generation” issue and a mandatory interval of between 10-20 years between referendums on Scottish independence would make sense.

Q 8: What are your views on the question or questions to be asked in a referendum?

A: There should be two questions on the ballot. The first should be a question about whether or not Scotland should become an independent sovereign state. The second should read, approximately, “notwithstanding the response given to the first question, should the Scottish Parliament have (e.g.) full taxation powers and extended competence in several other presently reserved areas.” In the event that the first question receives more than 50% of the popular vote the second question should be completely disregarded.

I do not share the view of the UK Government that a second question somehow “complicates” matters, though the ordering and wording of the questions should be very carefully crafted so as to leave absolutely no doubt that, notwithstanding the response to any “devo-max”-esque question, a majority vote for independence will be honoured. The idea that the people of Scotland can't understand a very basic premise of a two-question referendum on connected but alternative propositions is frankly rather insulting. There are only likely to be a maximum of three campaigns anyway (a Yes-Yes, a No-No, and a “Yes to more powers, No to independence”). The “Yes to independence, No to more powers” group would be so ridiculously tiny and arguing almost as obscure a proposition as someone in 1997 saying “there should not be a Scottish Parliament but it should have tax powers”. There are genuine areas in need of clarity here, but the UK Government must desist from looking for obfuscation when it's not actually there.

Q 9: What are your views on the draft section 30 order?

A: The Order in its current form is manifestly inappropriate in light of the various issues I have elaborated upon above. The proposed Schedule 5A has a number of problems which I shall list:

Para 2: It is not necessary to require that a referendum not be held on the same day as other elections. Whilst that may be expedient in and of itself to hold a poll on such an issue outside of other election cycles it is inappropriate to insist on such a provision, especially given that the UK Government only as far back as May 2011 held a referendum on the Alternative Vote at the same time as Scottish Parliamentary elections AND English local council elections. Given Scotland's rather negative experience with multiple polling in 2007 I doubt the Scottish Parliament would seek to hold simultaneous polls in any case.

Para 3: This is a blank sunset clause. There should be no sunset clause on the power to hold a referendum. As I explained earlier a reasonable time provision would be to impose a mandatory waiting time between polls on the subject matter of between 10 and 20 years.

Para 4: This provision seeks to prevent a second question being present on any ballot. For the reasons I gave earlier, this provision should be removed.

Para 5: This limits the franchise to those entitled to vote for “the Parliament”. In the interests of clarity I would insert the word “Scottish”. For the reasons I gave above this may yet involve the lowering of the franchise if you (wisely) reconsider Calman's proposal about devolving the essential components of Scottish Parliamentary and local council elections to Holyrood for consideration.

Para 6: This is a connected issue to Para 5. The thrust of this provision is fine, as long as the relevant derogations are made to allow the Scottish Parliament to make the changes it sees fit in the ordinary course of business rather than simultaneously with the Referendum Bill.

No is not enough; why the Scottish Lib Dems must embrace the Independence referendum

This post is a reproduction of my Op-Ed on Lib Dem Voice.

Alex Salmond’s SNP have a political mandate to hold a referendum on Scottish Independence. With an unprecedented majority in the Scottish Parliament and a manifesto pledge, the question is not if we have to confront this issue, but how.

Leaving aside arguments about the Scottish Parliament’s legal authority to legislate on an independence referendum (this can be resolved amicably through Westminster legislation) the Scottish Liberal Democrats must engage with the merits, not just of independence, but also “devo-max”.

Although Liberal Democrats generally support the Union, not all members are so-minded. Some (myself included) are ambivalent or notionally support Scottish independence, on distinctly liberal rather than “nationalist” grounds. Much of the SNP’s success resulted from attracting our former voters. Many in that party share our liberal instincts. On several issues we should be natural allies: wrestling power away from a London-centric Westminster; seeking reform of the EU’s CFP; and reforming social policy.

Alas the relationship has been fractious and dysfunctional. The tipping point was the last Parliament. Scottish Lib Dems inadequately co-operated with Salmond’s minority administration, in general and specifically on the Referendum Bill.

As democrats, we should have supported that referendum. As liberals we should have grasped that opportunity to articulate a federalist-inspired alternative. Call it “devo max”, “independence lite”; whatever you like. What mattered was it had to give the Scottish Parliament real power, not simply allocate resources from a Westminster hand-out.

The Steel Commission (2006) recognised this. Seeking full devolution of most taxes and the Crown Estate, it offered a real framework from which to articulate our vision for Home Rule. Parliaments responsible for raising every penny they spend have greater power, but greater accountability too.

Instead, we shunned the SNP’s “National Conversation” and referendum, turning to Scotland’s conservative forces: Labour and the Tories. The result? The Calman Commission, itself a damp squib, further diluted by the Scotland Bill. It marginally changes a tax-varying power Scotland has never sought to use and gave the Parliament modest borrowing powers. It ignored corporation tax, alcohol, tobacco and fuel duty and failed to overhaul the arbitrary and universally resented Barnett spending formula. We squandered a chance to shape Scotland’s future in our federal image. The electorate punished our cautious incrementalism. Our disastrous performance in 2011 wasn’t just a Coalition backlash; our unremitting negativity towards a relatively liberal and pragmatic SNP administration compounded it.

We must not throw-away this opportunity again. Our entire conduct towards the referendum has been in lockstep with the so-called “Unionist Bloc”.

Firstly, we’ve had this argument about the “economic uncertainty” businesses feel about the future constitutional set-up. Sure, CBI Scotland sought clarity on some issues, but most of this information is already in the public domain. In a globally integrated economy the notion that this causes mass uncertainty for Scottish business is unfounded.

Boyd Tunnock, prominent confectionery tycoon, wanted clarity on the currency and whether Anglo-Scot trade barriers would exist. These questions have been answered several times! The SNP would keep Sterling (we would be joint-stakeholders of the BOE) in the interim before putting any change (Euro or otherwise) to the people in a referendum. Further, Scotland wouldn’t have trade tariffs with England provided it was an EU/EFTA member, the first being almost certain. Absolutely there are questions that remain to be answered, for example how to separate assets and the national debt and structural EU issues, but they don’t give cause for scaremongering.

These are, anyhow, issues of process not principle. The raison-d’être of self-determination is being able to choose our currency and which international treaties to sign. Certainly the SNP should clarify their preferred and likely transitional arrangements, but advocating independence isn’t a perpetual manifesto of specifics. Trust the Scottish people to make these choices as and when the time comes.

Secondly, sending mixed-signals about the “devo-max” question, harms only us. Willie Rennie has made some positive signals but we need more. By challenging its place on the ballot we again throw away the chance to engage with the SNP and define the woolly term as our own vision. We could argue for: devolving taxes instead of tax rates; devolving powers to deal with Scotland’s drug problem; and devolving localised work visas to attract more people to Scotland and relieve pressure on the densely populated English South-East. We could seek guaranteed Holyrood representation on UK international delegations, particularly CFP negotiations, so Scotland’s fishermen’s concerns are voiced by the politicians closer to them.

That list isn’t exhaustive. More importantly, devo-max presents a chance to re-establish ourselves as an independent liberal-minded voice on the constitutional debate and in Scottish politics. Laying claim to the consensus option distinguishes us from Labour and the Tories, articulating a vision distinct from independence without attacking it for its own sake. If we do this we should achieve more working with the SNP administration. Moreover, we might just find the Scottish people willing to listen and engage with our ideas again.