Sent to the Herald: 14th May 2008. Not published.
Dear Sir,
As if the shambolic budget backtracking at Westminster by Labour is not bad enough they are now in complete disarray over a referendum on Scottish independence (“Scottish Labour back to square one”, 14 May). I am seriously wondering if Labour policy in relation to Scotland is now decided, not in the traditional venue of London, but simply by Wendy Alexander in Edinburgh rolling a dice or flipping a coin. Perhaps their decision making is based upon which way the wind is blowing or the movement of the tides.
According to your report, Duncan McNeill notes that the Labour Party has the ”right to scrutinise any bills that come before this parliament”, Wendy Alexander’s spokesman (poor Mr Pia) states that ”it will all be down to the wording and the timescale”, meanwhile Malcolm Chisholm states in the same report that scrutiny will be given to ”the question, the voting system, the timetabling… of any bill.” Can I suggest that they have a look at the Draft Referendum (Scotland) Bill? The draft Bill is annexed to the National Conversation document and is available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/a-national-conversation/White-Paper The draft Bill consists of only three sections and two schedules. Even for a Labour MSP it should not take them long to read.
The timescale was set down by the SNP before the elections a year ago – the aim was to hold the referendum in 2010. The draft ballot paper notes that we will be asked to agree/disagree that “the Scottish Government should negotiate a settlement with the Government of the United Kingdom so that Scotland becomes an independent state.” The proposed system of voting is to “put a cross (X) in the appropriate box” (this at least should make it easier for the likes of Douglas Alexander to understand). What exactly is it that the Labour Party wants to scrutinise about either the timing, the question or the vote itself? These calls for ”scrutiny” cannot hid the fact that Labour, as unionists, really do not want the nation to have the opportunity to debate independence and then decide on the issue in a fairly run referendum asking a question that does not mention separatism, isolation or the threat of scabies for voting yes.
Yours for Scotland,
