In defence of the Calman remit

The Calman Commission is one of those fairly good ideas that politicians seem inexplicably terrible at defending. Devolution is the settled will of the Scottish Parliament and, more importantly in legal terms, the Parliament of the United Kingdom; save for some cataclysmic political event, that is a constant. The idea of pro-Union parties voting for an independence referendum has been dismissed, the debate has moved on. Since our parliamentary processes both in Holyrood and Westminster have opted for devolution, it is perfectly sensible to gain expert evidence on how it should best function.

Those who demand a debate on the wider constitutional future of Scotland, including independence (and presumably, although far lessconsidered, abolition of the Scottish Parliament!) would not be satisified by the report of an independent commission, instead demanding a vote of the people. If Calman had the sort of remit they suggest, and produced a similar report, would the SNP back it? Of course not.

Where I will diverge from the cosy consensus is in terms of Jim Murphy's remarks that the Calman Report cannot be 'cherry picked' and must be implemented as a whole. How many independent reports has a government ever fully implemented without question? Few, I suspect. By making this statement, our Secretary of State has raised Calman and his commissioners' status to that of de facto legislators with their report, rather than the duly constituted representatives of the people and the state, having the final word on the constitution. That is improper. Moreover, it sets up a convenient cop-out for our elected representatives - it is easy to imagine them distancing themselves from any failures incidental to the proposals. Luckily I believe blaming Sir Kenneth will not satisfy the electorate should that eventuality arise.

But who is to take that responsibility? With a Labour government very much on the way out, will the Conservatives be expected to implement the report? Will David Cameron be criticised by Labour, the SNP and possibly even the Lib Dems should they decide that they will indeed 'cherry pick'? Will this form a pseudo-patriotic battle ground for Scottish Labour and an incoming Tory government? A potential minefield awaits...

UPDATE: And so it begins... more commentary to follow, after I overcome the shame of being behind on the news. Blame the good weather.