THE Scotland Office has insisted there will be no backtracking on more powers for Holyrood after the SNP claimed the UK Government appointment of top Tory Richard Keen as Advocate General was a "clear signal" that there would be.
As expected, Mr Keen, one of Scotland's leading lawyers and Chairman of the Scottish Conservatives, was David Cameron's final appointment to his new-look Government as the most senior legal adviser to it on Scots Law. He will be paid £128,121 a year.
The 61-year-old QC, dubbed "the Rottweiler" for his courtroom ferocity, was earlier this year dragged into a row over illegal proxy donors, after indicating he once gave £10,000 to the Tory Party under his wife's name. However, the Scottish Conservatives later made clear the money had come from his wife.
But on confirmation of Mr Keen's appointment, the SNP swiftly claimed that it sent "further clear signals of the Tories' intention to backtrack on further powers for Scotland".
It mentioned remarks the QC had made last year, quoting him as saying: "I don't think it's the answer just to say 'more powers'. What is the answer to the devolved settlement is to ensure that the powers that Holyrood has are used properly and there is accountability."
The SNP noted how earlier this week Professor Adam Tomkins, now an advisor to Scottish Secretary David Mundell "made light of the fact that the current devolution settlement results in the Scottish Government having to mitigate swingeing cuts made by the UK Government as part of their austerity regime" and that Andrew Dunlop, "the architect of the Poll Tax" had been appointed a Scotland Office Minister.
"The appointment of Richard Keen sends further clear signals that the Tories intend to backtrack on further powers for Scotland," declared SNP MSP Stewart Maxwell. "Mr Keen has previously argued that more powers are not the answer and his appointment comes less than 24 hours after the publication of the Scotland Bill, which falls far short of implementing the Smith Commission recommendations."
He claimed the Tories had "broken their promise to the people of Scotland to deliver the agreement in full" and the appointment to key roles of Messrs Keen, Tomkins and Dunlop "makes this clear".
Mr Maxwell added: "At the General Election, people in Scotland gave the SNP an unprecedented democratic mandate to ensure that Scotland's voice is heard at Westminster more loudly than ever before. The SNP will do all we can to ensure Scotland's interests are protected and the Tories cannot wriggle out of delivering the powers promised to the people of Scotland."
But a Scotland Office spokesman hit back, saying: "The UK Government is delivering the Smith recommendations on more powers in full through the Scotland Bill, which was laid in Parliament on Thursday.
"The clear signal is actually that the Scottish Parliament is on course to become one of the most powerful devolved parliaments in the world with wide-ranging choices over tax, welfare and many other areas. The idea anyone is backtracking on powers is simply wrong," he added.
Mr Keen, a father-of-two from Edinburgh, will be shortly made a member of the House of Lords, where he is expected to take part in the Government's key constitutional bills like the Scotland Bill as well as the planned British Bill of Rights.
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