GETTING to the core of the SNP's claim for the need for independence - democratic deficit - the White Paper's chapter Building A Modern Democracy, takes in everything from the need for a written constitution, the trumpeting of a different set of values through to new approaches to tax relief on Gift Aid.
"Independence will ensure that Scotland always gets the governments that the Scottish people elect", the opening line spells out the chapter's intent.
After a brief history of the impact on and by the Scottish electorate of Westminster polls since 1945, there is the promise to enshrine the gains of independence in a written constitution.
The prospect of full devolution on economic and domestic matters is ruled out as it's "not on the table".
Early legislation would give the European Convention on Human Rights the same legal force for reserved matters as it already has for devolved matters, define entitlement to Scottish citizenship on independence day and provide for the Supreme Court of Scotland.
Some of the first priorities talk to notions of discrimination and prejudice, dignity and self-respect, protection of the environment and a ban on nuclear weapons being based in Scotland.
Crucially, its the chapter touching on the Union of the Crowns, that dates back to 1603.
"The position of Her Majesty The Queen and head of state will form an intrinsic part of the constitutional platform in place for independence in 2016. An independent Scottish Government will promote, and support amongst the Commonwealth States with the Queen as Head of State, a similar measure to remove religious discrimination from the succession rules."
Then there is the nuts and bolts stuff.
Over the past few years with pressure being cranked up on the public purse, the differing emphasis on and approaches to public services in Scotland and England and Wales have been a weapon in the SNP's armoury.
The Christie Commission, headed by the late STUC general secretary Campbell Christie, appears to remain the touchstone for public services, with its references to improving outcomes, prevention and early intervention. "Major reforms to public services in Scotland to protect front-line delivery in the face of Westminster cuts" include the creation of the single police force and cutting the number of public bodies from 199 to 113.
Meanwhile, as the White Paper talks of integrating the functions of a large number of UK bodies into the public sector in Scotland, the Labour-dominated umbrella body for all 32 councils is currently making its case to take on functions such as welfare. A pre-emptive strike?
One thing mentioned as an advantage is Scotland's scale, where a tax and welfare system would not be as unwieldy as the UK's. It claims stakeholders in Scotland tell the Government of the benefits of being able to get all the key decision-makers in one room. Union leaders who are no friends of independence do talk up easy access to ministers in Scotland. With Edinburgh and Glasgow the focus of much of the administration of public sector, the promise under independence is to further geographically new functions inherited from Westminster.
Around 300 public bodies currently act for Scotland at the UK level, with around 30 of these continuing to have a continuing cross-British remit.
For the parliamentary term beginning in May 2016 the priorities would be to take on responsibility for benefits and the state pension, setting up a Scottish Border and Migration Service and Passport Agency, a new tribunal service and industrial relations body (similar to ACAS) and a Scottish health and safety body.
Notably, the White Paper states that a Scottish Government would "move swiftly to begin the process of establishing a Scottish postal service in public ownership".
Despite the increasing gripes by many in Scottish councils of an ongoing appetite for centralised control over local services, the Paper promises that "independence gives us an opportunity to renew democracy at all levels in Scotland".
Repeated from earlier this year are promises "to embed the role of Scottish local authorities in a written constitution", putting it on a par with Denmark and Sweden, while promises to further devolve power to Scotland's islands is also in there.
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 hereComments are closed on this article