AN “exciting new era in Scottish politics” has arrived, David Mundell has claimed today, as the Scotland Bill giving Holyrood new tax and welfare powers enters its final stage before becoming law.
MPs are due to consider a number of technical amendments, including one that hands power to the Scottish Parliament to deal with problem parking, before the legislation goes to the Queen for Royal Assent.
The Scottish Secretary insisted the completion of the bill meant that the UK Government had delivered on its vow to create a “powerhouse parliament fit for a 21st century Scotland” and meant that the political debate could now move from constitutional wrangling between London and Edinburgh to one of how the new powers would be used by the Scottish Government.
“This is an important moment in the story of our nation,” declared Mr Mundell, saying the completion of the bill would see Holyrood transformed into a body with real power and real accountability.
“There will no longer be anyone else to point the finger at if promises made become promises broken because policies could not match campaign rhetoric. The buck really will stop at Bute House,” insisted the Secretary of State.
“But, most importantly of all, this bill delivers what the people of Scotland called for in the independence referendum: a legislature with powers which, if used well, can help grow our country and see it fulfil its true potential in conjunction with colleagues in the UK Parliament,” he explained.
Mr Mundell argued that by working together, Holyrood and Westminster could multiply the benefits to Scotland.
He added: “The Scotland Bill means the UK Government has delivered on its commitments; a powerhouse parliament for Scotland, which shares in and contributes to the strength, security and stability of the UK.
“It is now down to us all to work together to make sure politicians at every level serve the people of Scotland in the very best way we can.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel