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Union debate after powers blunder Parliament debates Union benefits
(about 22 hours later)
Ministers will seek to bolster Scotland's place in the Union while claiming Scottish independence could lead to cuts in vital public services. Holyrood's political parties have used a set-piece debate on the future of Scotland to attack their rivals.
The Scottish Parliament debate will come after a "clerical error" appeared to show the Scottish Executive favoured Holyrood gaining more powers. The discussion at Holyrood followed a blunder in a motion from the ruling Lib Dem and Labour parties.
An executive motion was submitted stating that parliament should, where appropriate, have increased powers. It appeared to show Scottish Executive support for Holyrood gaining more powers, but was later dismissed by a minister as a "clerical error".
But Parliament Minister Margaret Curran said it was put forward in error. Parliament Minister Margaret Curran attacked the SNP, while Nationalists branded the Union "outdated".
SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon branded the situation "an embarrassing shambles", but Ms Curran said it had been a simple mistake. Ms Curran said voters faced the choice at the Scottish elections in May of "tax and turmoil" under the SNP or "prosperity and progress" with Labour.
The Scottish Conservatives also sought to focus on the blunder by re-submitting the original motion ahead of the debate. "The SNP and their policies will affect every individual, every family and every business in Scotland," she said.
It was an oversight. It was a clerical error Margaret Curran MSPMinister for Parliament The minister said Scotland's best future lay in partnership within the UK, adding: "We came here to change lives, not to perpetually change the constitution."
The Liberal Democrats have long argued for extra powers at Holyrood, but first minister and Scots Labour leader Jack McConnell recently warned that Holyrood would "subside into inertia" if MSPs continued to obsess about gaining new powers. I believe that Scotland has benefited enormously over the last 300 years from the Union Murdo Fraser MSPScottish Tory Deputy Leader
Ms Curran, who took responsibility for the error, said the motion had not been signed off by Labour ministers, adding: "It was an oversight. It was a clerical error." An executive motion released on Wednesday stated that parliament believes "that Scotland should retain the benefits of being part of the UK while, where appropriate, increasing the powers available to the Scottish Parliament".
She said: "The devolution settlement, as it stands, really works in the interests of the people of Scotland and we as politicians should be focussed on the people we represent. It was later replaced with a motion which noted the respective position of Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
"They don't want an esoteric debate about powers - they want us to improve their lives." SNP chief whip Alasdair Morgan argued that the 300-year-old union with England was now outdated and told MSPs: "It is time for Scotland to move on."
The original motion stated that parliament believes "that Scotland should retain the benefits of being part of the UK while, where appropriate, increasing the powers available to the Scottish Parliament". He continued: "Independence would put Scotland on an equal footing with England and within Europe and the wider world.
It was replaced with a motion which noted the respective position of Labour and the Liberal Democrats. "It will give us the responsibilities we need to achieve progress for Scotland politically, economically and socially."
Ms Sturgeon said: "This is an embarrassing shambles by the Labour/Lib Dem Executive. Tory deputy leader Murdo Fraser, whose party re-submitted the original motion withdrawn by the executive, said: "We don't want to separate ourselves from the rest of the United Kingdom and I believe that's the case for the majority of Scotland.
"In the morning they were calling for more powers, and by the afternoon they were trying to airbrush the motion from history." "I believe that Scotland has benefited enormously over the last 300 years from the Union.
"I believe we will continue to benefit in the future."