ALL UK Government departments should be required to carry out a “devolution impact assessment” on how new policies affect politics in Scotland, a Labour report recommends.
The call is one of 17 specifically about Scotland’s settlement in a newly published report for the Labour Party.
Written by constitutional law expert Sean Griffin, the Remaking the British State paper was commissioned by Jeremy Corbyn and recommends a new federal UK, elected replacement for the House of Lords and significant further powers for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
This includes the hand-over of authority on drug laws, social security and taxation on alcohol, cigarettes and gambling.
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Under the plan, a “council of the Union” would be set up and written constitution brought in.
The paper, which was two years in the making and was overseen by Labour peer Pauline Bryan, also calls for the role of the Scotland Office to be “strengthened and given specific powers in relation to reserved matters for Scotland”.
This includes giving the Scotland Secretary powers over central government funds “such as the National Transformation Fund to invest in the Scottish economy”.
The report states: “Brexit has brought into sharp focus the existential crisis facing the British State; it is plagued by huge economic and political imbalances, an inordinate centralisation of power and wealth, vast regional inequalities across the UK, and an empty commitment to devolution.
“The old constitution is creaking under the weight of competing nationalisms, identity politics, and disconnect between ordinary people and the British political and economic elite centred on Westminster and the City of London.
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“The Labour Party has an opportunity. It should reject the Scottish nationalism of the SNP in Scotland and the status quo Unionism of the Tories in Westminster. Instead, it should seek to reimagine the UK and posit a new vision of Progressive Federalism, replacing the Union state with a new federal state based on progressive principles including subsidiarity, solidarity, the redistribution of power and wealth, and parity of esteem between our nations and regions.”
The publication comes ahead of the launch of a constitutional commission by Keir Starmer. That had been scheduled for earlier last month but was put back by the surprise resignation of Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard.
His successor will be announced by the end of this month, with MSPs Monica Lennon and Anas Sarwar both seeking the role.
Meanwhile, it is understood that the Conservatives may begin an official review of UK political structures in response to ongoing support for Scottish independence.
The Labour report says “the subject of Scotland’s constitutional future has taken precedence in the minds of the Scottish electorate” and “the Yes Scotland campaign attracted large parts of the non-Labour Scottish Left, as well as a significant section of Labour voters who turned their backs on the UK in favour of creating a new independent Scottish state”.
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It recommends introducing a new Scotland Bill into the House of Commons “as a matter of urgency” to devolve further powers to the Scottish Parliament and overhaul the relationship between Edinburgh and London.
It also calls for an independent commission to “assess potential future replacements to the Barnett formula” using a “needs-based” approach to factor in “regional economic and social inequalities” when calculating the block grant.
On proposed devolution impact assessments, it says these should outline how policies set by Westminster could affect devolved governments, with the Joint Ministerial Council consulted on this.
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