Devo +

5th March 2012

As someone who supported and campaigned for the creation of the Scottish Parliament within the United Kingdom, I was glad to join politicians across parties last week to make the case for Devo Plus.

No it’s not a power drink, it’s what I believe is the best option for Scotland’s constitutional future, and an option which avoids breaking up the UK.

 

Devo Plus provides a structure that recognises the value of the relationship between Scotland and the UK, while strengthening Scotland by enhancing accountability and financial responsibility.

 

It echoes the proposals enshrined in the Scotland Bill, that Scottish politicians should be accountable for the money they raise and spend, rather than having the situation that we have now, whereby the SNP blame the UK government when things are going badly, and are happy to take the credit when things go well.

 

It is clear that we do not need to separate in order to bring greater powers to the Scottish Parliament. We can grow and mature by staying in the Union.

 

Unity is strength, and through our common endeavour we achieve more together than we do own our own. We can have the best of both worlds, and maximise the benefit in the good times, and spread the risk in the bad.

 

I believe this is the majority view.

 

And with the recent projection that one in ten working Scots could be unemployed by the end of the year, and a warning from the Weir Group, one of Scotland’s biggest companies, that the uncertainty and delay around the referendum is hurting Scottish businesses, I believe that we should resolve this issue sooner rather than later.