THE UK Government has published the long-awaited Dunlop review into how Whitehall can work to maximise the benefits of the Union.
However, as it was written in late 2019, the SNP have said that it contains nothing but “outdated half-measures”.
The review, written by the Tory peer Andrew Dunlop, makes several recommendations.
In a letter thanking the peer for the report, Michael Gove says that it "has been the impetus behind a wide-ranging programme of reform", one he says he and his colleagues will "continue to pursue vigorously".
Firstly, the report calls for a new Cabinet position to be created “with specific responsibility for the constitutional integrity and operation of the United Kingdom”.
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Secondly, it calls for a new Cabinet sub-committee to “oversee the delivery and implementation of a set of strategic priorities and departments’ plans to support the UK Government’s Union agenda”.
Since Boris Johnson has taken office he has created the role of Minister for the Union, and given it to himself.
He has also created a Cabinet Committee tasked with Union strategy, which he chairs. Gove, Rishi Sunak, David Frost, and the Secretaries of State for the devolved nations also sit on that committee.
Officially titled "Review of UK Government Union Capability", Dunlop's report also says that the UK’s “intergovernmental relations machinery is not fit for purpose”.
A third recommendation is that this “problem should be addressed by the creation of a UK Intergovernmental Council (UKIC)”.
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This UKIC, Dunlop says, would be a “forum for co-operation and joint working”.
He recommends a new structure supporting the separate offices of the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with a single permanent secretary, as well as a separate independent secretariat underpinning the UKIC.
He goes on: “As well as looking to make decisions by consensus on areas of devolved or shared responsibility, [the UKIC] should provide a platform for informed consultation by the UK Government on reserved matters.”
Constitution Secretary Michael Russell (above) panned the idea.
He said: “It is difficult to see in practice the UK Government’s commitment to the principles of joint working when Scotland’s views on a reckless and damaging Brexit have been ignored, and the UK Government and Parliament now regularly legislate in devolved areas without the consent of the Scottish Parliament.
“The UK Government needs to demonstrate that they are willing to truly respect, rather than weaken, the existing devolution settlement if any real progress is to be made."
The review also calls for the UK Government’s activities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to “be clearly marked with UK Government branding”.
Dunlop calls for a new fund for UK-wide projects, including joint projects with devolved governments. This may have been the idea behind by the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund and Levelling Up Fund.
However, those funds have been labelled a power grab, as they take away the devolved administrations’ control over hundreds of millions of pounds of funding which previously came from the EU.
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Responding to the review, SNP MP Ronnie Cowan (below) - who sits on Westminster’s Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee - said: “This long-delayed review confirms only one thing - that Scotland doesn’t need Tory tinkering with the constitution, we need independence.
"The fact this report is being published in 2021 despite appearing to have a time stamp of 2019 tells you all you need to know about this Tory government's views of Scotland and devolution.
"The reality is that these outdated, half-measures will do nothing to address the simple fact that Boris Johnson's Tory government has repeatedly ridden roughshod over Scotland by hammering our economy with a hard Brexit, stripping powers from the Scottish Parliament, undermining devolution, and threatening to sign away our NHS in damaging trade deals.
"It is clear that Scotland faces a choice of two futures: the long-term damage of Tory cuts and Brexit under the broken Westminster system, or the opportunity to secure our place in Europe and a strong, fair and green recovery as an independent country, in a post-pandemic referendum.”
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