As the Scottish Lib Dems’ website announces:
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie MSP has announced that former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Menzies Campbell MP will chair the Home Rule Commission, set up to develop a blueprint for Home Rule in Scotland. The party’s Scottish conference in Dunfermline last month voted to establish a Commission to look at a settled distribution of powers between London, Edinburgh and local councils. Sir Menzies will join other Liberal Democrats to set out a long-term vision for a strong Scotland within the UK and powerful local communities in every part of Scotland.
Here’s what Willie had to say about it:
“I am very pleased that Sir Menzies has agreed to chair our Home Rule Commission. Sir Menzies brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the table. He will be a fantastic asset as Scottish Liberal Democrats look to set out our vision for Scotland’s future.
“Liberal Democrats are ambitious for Scotland’s people and, with Home Rule in the United Kingdom, we can look to shape our own future whilst sharing risk, security and international relations in an uncertain world. Liberal Democrats have been setting the pace on constitutional matters for decades. We were central to the Constitutional Convention, critical to the campaign that won the referendum to create the Scottish Parliament; we set up the Steel Commission, triggered the creation of the Calman Commission and, in Government, drove through the Scotland Bill.
“It is the right time to set out our vision for a strong Scotland within the UK and for strong, powerful communities in every part of Scotland and I am pleased Sir Menzies will be part of that.”
And here’s Ming:
“The Scottish Liberal Democrats have an important role to play in the debate about the future of Scotland. Home Rule has the same significance today as it had historically and, as opinion poll after opinion poll shows, best represents the views of the majority of people in Scotland.
“Continuing partnership within the United Kingdom, and consistent with that relationship, increased responsibility for our own domestic affairs is the clearest way forward. Home Rule meets aspirations and brings certainty where the status quo is inadequate and independence brings uncertainty.”
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3 Comments
Hilarious, and truly desperate.
It is of course welcome to see the Lib Dems finally start to make a positive case for how they think Scotland should operate (I don’t think Willie Rennie got the memo yet), but I’m afraid the last four years have made it impossible to take them seriously.
a mention of federalism would be welcome
I would hope for a slightly broader remit for this sort of commission. It should be examining the case for a symmetrical rolling-out of Home Rule across the nation. No sense in having the Scottish Parliament with one set of powers, the Welsh Assembly with a different set of powers, Stormont with again different responsibilities, the London Assembly again different and the rest of England administered by an inefficient central bureaucracy, oddly enough located in London, with no devolved administration worth mentioning.
A balanced confederation of Scotland, Wales and the English regions is the best way to meet the needs of communities all over the country. These Home Rule ideas shouldn’t be about trying to persuade the Scots to stay, they should be about trying to make the whole country a better place for everyone.