Douglas Alexander calls for Scottish national convention after referendum

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/08/douglas-alexander-scottish-convention-independence

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The shadow foreign secretary, Douglas Alexander, has revived his idea for a Scottish national convention after the referendum as a way of reconciling a divided Scotland and mapping a new path for the country.

With the polls showing no significant tightening in the wake of the first TV debate and the odds on a yes to independence vote on 18 September lengthening Alexander is keen to ensure there is a structure to a debate about Scotland's future if the SNP are defeated.

All three unionist parties, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, have called for a further devolution of powers to Scotland, regardless of the outcome, and may want a mechanism to progress these ideas without circumventing the Scottish Assembly. The former Lib Dem leader Menzies Campbell has called for a meeting of all political parties within 30 days of a no vote.

The former Scottish secretary, MP for Paisley, said: "After September 18th, Scotland will be divided by the outcome, with a significant minority feeling disappointed with personal feelings and hopes about themselves and their nation being dashed by the result. So I think all politicians in Scotland face an equal obligation to ensure that our nation comes together."

He welcomed the Church of Scotland's proposal to hold a service of reconciliation in St Giles cathedral in Edinburgh on the Sunday after the vote. He said: "In the past, I've argued for the establishment of a national convention in the aftermath of a no vote. Its task would be, to chart a new vision for an old nation for the next decade.

"I suggested that gathering 25 years on from the conclusion of the original constitutional convention, a national convention could look beyond an agenda of constitutional change, and address issues that had been crowded out in recent years by the debate over constitutional reform." He said such a convention could help the Scots write the next chapter of their national story.

He admitted much of the debate so far had "too often been marked by rancour and bad temper. Scotland's future is at times is being debated in damaging terms which threatens to leave a lasting and bitter legacy".

Alexander's remarks come as Ed Miliband returns to Scotland today to speak to business people about the dangers of separation and the failure of the SNP to set out an answer to the question of a Scottish currency, the issue that caused Alex Salmond most difficulty in the Scottish TV debates.

The all party Commons business select committee is due to deliver its verdict on the impact of separation on Scottish business in a report due out on Friday morning.

If there is a substantial no vote, figures like Alistair Darling are eager to put the issue of separation to bed for the foreseeable future and prevent what has been described as an "ever-endum".

But it is also possible nationalists will try to own a defeat by claiming the outcome is in effect "devo max", the proposition that did not get onto the ballot paper against the wishes of Salmond.

Alexander argued: "The task between now and September 18th is bringing home the vote, the task after the referendum is bringing Scotland together.

"If Scotland votes no, then it will be a painful reckoning for the SNP… the settled will of the Nationalists will have run straight into the sovereign will of the Scottish people.

"At that point, the Nationalists will face a choice: do they try and prove devolution wrong, or do they try and make devolution work?"

He claimed the terms of the post referendum debate have now changed. "The nationalists wanted to argue that a no vote meant no change. But in recent months, with all of the main UK parties now offering significant additional powers for the Scottish Parliament, the terms of the referendum debate have shifted decisively, and the ground has given way under the nationalists.

"More and more Scots now recognise that the referendum is not just a choice between change and the status quo. It is a choice between severing the British connection with a yes vote, or getting the best of both worlds with a no vote – more decisions taken here in Scotland backed up by the strength, stability, and security of the UK."

Ironically, Labour was pressed by the independent think tank Reform Scotland this week to catch up with the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives by strengthening its devolution proposals. Both the Liberal Democrat and Conservative commissions recommended the devolution of the entirety of income tax, which would lead to the Scottish parliament raising around 40% of what it spends.

Reform Scotland said in contrast Labour proposed only "tinkering" with the Scotland Act 2012, increasing the amount of income tax raised in Scotland from 10p to 15p. Reform Scotland chairman Ben Thomson said: "The Labour devolution commission's interim report was genuinely radical, but its final report was a damp squib."