THIS is the year, we are told, of a new Scottish Parliament. According to the Scottish Secretary David Mundell, when the Scotland Bill receives its Royal Assent in the next few weeks, not only will it transfer significant new powers to Holyrood, it will bring about the biggest transformation in the way Scotland is governed since devolution in 1999 and, in effect, create a new Parliament. Mr Mundell even has a phrase for it: Scotland 2.0.
It is certainly a neat little soundbite (even if it does have the whiff of a dad trying to get down with the kids). But how much truth is there in the idea that the Bill will completely transform what Holyrood can do?
Inevitably, there will be some who will say the Bill could have gone further. There will be others who say it does not fulfil the Vow or the Smith Agreement (even though Lord Smith of Kelvin says it does).
And there are areas where the Bill should have gone further - on the issue of post-study work visas for example. Mr Mundell says Smith did not recommend the two Governments discuss the re-introduction of the visas, which allowed some foreign students to stay in Scotland and work after graduating. But before the UK Government decided to revoke it, the scheme had proved itself a success and it is a great pity that the Scottish Government will not be able to re-introduce the visas – particularly because the need to boost Scotland’s population is as great as it has ever been.
On the question of the powers that are being transferred, Mr Mundell is right the Scotland Bill is a profound change in the way Scotland is governed. We cannot pass final judgment until the details emerge of the fiscal framework that will govern what effect there will be on the budget allocation from Westminster. But the legislation hands the Scottish Parliament significant new powers on a wide range of issues, including welfare and tax.
Whether the SNP will use the powers is another matter. As Mr Mundell said in his speech, Holyrood could use its new powers on welfare to create new benefits or top up existing ones. Mr Mundell was also keen to trumpet the new powers on tax and said the Parliament could change the personal allowance for income taxpayers, introduce new bands or rates or a 50 per cent tax rate.
But if this is the Tories attempting to set a trap, the SNP is not going to step into it. The Conservatives think there is political capital to be made from the SNP increasing taxes, while on the left Labour and others will call on the Scottish Government to increase the taxes on the rich. But where does that leave the SNP? In the middle ground of course, where it has had their greatest political success and is perfectly happy to stay.
However, it will now be much harder for the SNP to argue that “we don’t have the powers to do that”. Mr Mundell is guilty of wishful thinking if he thinks he can move the argument on entirely from the constitution to the practicalities of running Scotland. But when the new powers do arrive, it will also be more difficult for the Scottish Government to ignore the question of what they are going to do with them.
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