Brown wades into independence debate: No more ‘undivided Westminster sovereignty’
Gordon Brown has returned to front-line politics to put forward a radical six-point plan for the future of Britain which finally breaks the "undivided sovereignty" of Westminster.
The former prime minister outlined the plan at a speech in the east end of Glasgow later, in a bid to put forward a more positive vision for the 'no' camp ahead of the Scottish independence referendum.
"The majority of Scottish people do not want separation but equally they do want change, not the status quo. It is now six months from the referendum and time to enact that change," he said.
"If people are asked to support the union it is crucial that people know what the purpose is and it is no longer left unstated and unexplained."
The six-point Brown plan would:
- Introduce a new constitutional law – backed by a bill of rights – setting out the purpose of the UK as a union of nations intended to share resources for the defence, security and well-being of its citizens, together with a commitment to alleviate unemployment and poverty.
- Hand the Scottish government a constitutional guarantee, together with a lock to prevent it ever being overruled or undermined.
- Give Holyrood more powers over employment health, transport and economic regeneration.
- Start a new tax-sharing agreement so the UK pools resources between its four nations.
- Power-sharing agreements between Scotland and the UK government on solving poverty, unemployment, the environment and housing.
- A "radical" transfer of power down from Westminster to Edinburgh and local communities.
The programme would swap the "old highly-centralised, uniform Britain dominated by out-of-date ideas of an undivided Westminster sovereignty" into a "diverse power-sharing, risk-sharing, resource-sharing UK which is best defined not as an old union but as a modern, constitutional partnership of nations" the MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath said.
He added: "We must bury for good the notion that Westminster enjoys undivided sovereignty over the country and reject the idea of Britain as the old unitary centralised state of the constitutional textbooks."
A spokesman for Yes Scotland said: "We agree with Gordon Brown that the purpose of constitutional change must be to empower people. We also agree with him that Labour and the other anti-independence parties need to spell out what further powers they will guarantee in the event of a 'no' vote.
"But we have heard such promises before and they came to nothing then and they'd come to nothing again. Labour and the Tories cannot even agree among themselves what further powers should be devolved to Scotland."
Mr Brown's plan will now be submitted to the Labour party's devolution commission and the party's Scottish leader, Johann Lamont.
Also today, former Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell launched a report on constitutional change outlining plans for more powers for the Scottish parliament.
The Lib Dem seven-point strategy for increasing the powers of Holyrood:
Recommendation 1: The Queen's Speech of 2015 should include provisions to strengthen the powers of Scotland within the United Kingdom.
Recommendation 2: Led by the Scotland Office, the UK government should begin an analysis of the options available to enhance the powers of the Scottish parliament to implement the consensus set out in this report.
Recommendation 3: The Scottish government should undertake that the research and knowledge acquired by civil servants in Scotland in preparation for the referendum will be available to inform the proposals set out in this report.
Recommendation 4: The Scottish parliament should resolve to ensure that the independent fiscal body to be established to support the 2012 Act tax powers is designed to be able to cope with all further financial power legislated for it after a No vote.
Recommendation 5: The secretary of state for Scotland should convene a meeting after the referendum, within thirty days, where parties and wider interests can meet. Its aim should be to secure a consensus for the further extension of powers to the Scottish parliament consistent with continued membership of the United Kingdom and to be included in party manifestos for the 2015 general election.
Recommendation 6: Political parties should include commitments in their manifestos for the election due in May 2015 that reforms affecting Scotland will be included in the Queen’s Speech which follows the election.
Recommendation 7: The necessary changes to tax powers should be made through a further Scotland Act. The entrenchment of the Scottish parliament can be achieved by a resolution in favour of a statute in both Holyrood and Westminster. The Scottish parliament should have a role in establishing its permanence.
