If I was voting no on the basis that Cameron, Clegg and Milliband have vowed to give Scotland more powers, Id find this article about MPs planning to rebel against their leaders line on this concerning: theguardian/politics/2014/sep/16/politicians-scottish-funding-pledge-anger-daily-record Any bill would have to be voted through in the House of Commons and while Im sure it would be treated as a three-line-whip issue (i.e. MPs are ordered by their party to vote in the way the party leaders tell them to), it doesnt then follow that they will do it. It wouldnt be unprecedented for them to rebel – in 2011 81 Conservative MPs went against party leaders and voted in favour of a European referendum, for example. Add to that the fact that no party has a majority in parliament just now and, based on last time, is not guaranteed to after the next general election, and that all three parties differ somewhat on what they want Scotlands new powers to be, theres also a chance that other parties wont agree with whichever governments version is brought to the Commons. Note, Im not saying this will happen, but I think its incredibly naive to discount the possibility. If you think thats an acceptable risk, thats fair enough, but be under no illusions – its still a risk. Ill end by quoting Conservative MP Christopher Chope from the above article: I certainly think that the people in Scotland should recognise that this is a pledge, in inverted commas, by party leaders, but that is not a guarantee that it would be implemented in the United Kingdom parliament. Because politicians have never claimed one thing in a campaign and done the opposite (Im looking at you, Clegg).
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 13:01:36 +0000
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