Revelations undermine Labour leader Alexander
GORDON Brown is refusing to call the body tasked with reviewing devolution a "commission" because he believes it would give an "incorrect impression about its status".
The prime minister used that phrase at a Downing Street summit on the Union, a full account of which has been leaked to this newspaper.
He also backed a review of Holyrood's financial powers only after he was pushed on the issue by UK justice secretary Jack Straw and Scotland secretary Des Browne.
Straw had raised the question about the Barnett Formula in the context of its perceived unfairness to England.
The revelations are an embarrassment for Labour's Holyrood leader, Wendy Alexander, who wants the so-called "constitutional commission" to lead a review of Scottish devolution.
The Sunday Herald disclosed last month how, at a Downing Street meeting on January 28 between the prime minister, chancellor Alistair Darling, Browne and Straw, Brown said the commission should be downgraded to either a "review" or a "working party".
The prime minister's lack of enthusiasm for the commission embarrassed Alexander, fighting to stay on as Labour leader, and prompted him to offer support for her project in a BBC interview.
But further details of the Downing Street meeting, which have been given to the Sunday Herald, show Brown is much more cautious in private about the review than he is in public.
After stating the review's terms of reference were "acceptable", the prime minister said the body should not be called a commission as it gave "an incorrect impression about its status".
Brown then opened a discussion with his colleagues on the Barnett Formula, in which he noted it would be "very difficult" to reach a consensus on changing the status quo. This was followed by Straw urging Brown to engage on Barnett to deal with the concerns in English constituencies about the funding system.
The justice secretary, in emphasising his point, noted that Scotland had higher levels of public spending than Wales and regions in the north of England.
Des Browne then agreed with Straw, saying the government had to be "proactive" on any review of the parliament's financial powers.
It was in this context that Brown said the funding issue "could not be ignored" but noted there had to be a "considerable period" of public debate on the matter.
The secret discussions undermine Alexander's claim that the prime minister is supportive of her attempt to bolster the parliament's financial powers.
Instead, the meeting appeared to show Brown only agreeing to a review of the Barnett Formula after Straw expressed concerns about the system's perceived unfairness to England.
In addition, ministers at the summit discussed the tensions between the Labour government in London and the SNP administration in Edinburgh.
Straw suggested the creation of a Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) to manage any difficulties.
The prime minister also floated the idea of a public campaign that would set out the benefits of the Union.
An SNP spokesman said: "It's very clear Gordon Brown quite deliberately downgraded the status of the commission to a mere working party, and ensured Downing Street is in charge of the entire process. It's a severe blow to what remains of Wendy Alexander's credibility as Labour leader in Scotland."
