St Andrews Day 2009 - the end of the Homecoming to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robbie Burns and the launch of the SNP Government's White Paper on Scotland's constitutional future. It was long awaited but the conclusion was not a surprise: independence would be the best option.
The White Paper, however, considers four possible scenarios:
1. the status quo: however, with opposition parties accepting that more powers should be transferred to the Scottish Parliament, the status quo is increasingly looking like it is not an option;
2. Calman reforms: the Calman Commission (comprised of the main opposition parties in Scotland) recently reported and the UK Government has committed to implementing a number of their recommendations - most notably, limited fiscal independence with the Scottish Parliament being required to set income tax rates for Scotland above a base rate of 10%;
3. "Devolution Max": this is perhaps one step short of independence - broad fiscal autonomy for Scotland and the transfer of almost all powers other than Defence and Foreign Affairs. If independence is not a realistic option, this appears to the Scottish Government's preferred alternative; and
4. Independence: this has always been the longer term goal of the SNP Government. It is unlikely that they will have the necessary support in the Scottish Parliament to pass the necessary legislation to hold a referendum.
Ten years ago Donald Dewar, Scotland's first First Minister, described devolution as "a process, not an event". The process of devolution is continuing and the only thing that the political parties currently agree on is that more powers should be transferred to the Scottish Parliament. Which powers, how many powers, and when all remain to be decided......
The Scottish Government plan to introduce their Referendum Bill, paving the way for an independence referendum, in early 2010. How these proposals will impact on businesses and people in Scotland, and who deal with Scotland, will become clearer as the detail of whichever scenario is adopted becomes known.
Please click here The Scottish Government White Paper
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The original publication date for this article was 02/12/2009.
