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Lords to debate Holyrood powers

Written By blogger on Tuesday, October 28, 2014 | 7:03 PM

The House of Lords is to have a full debate on the powers of the Scottish parliament later.

About 50 peers have indicated they will contribute to the discussion, which follows the "No" vote on independence in September's referendum.

One of them will be former Labour First Minister Jack McConnell.

Lord McConnell, who has recently been critical of his own party's approach in Scotland, has said any new settlement should "stand the test of time".

A package of additional powers for the Scottish parliament is being considered by a commission chaired by Lord Smith of Kelvin.

A white paper is scheduled to be published by the end of November.

Lord McConnell has previously insisted the package of measures should not emerge from a "back room deal".

He said: "If you are designing a new tax system for Scotland, the system has to work and be sustainable for at least a number of years, so I hope Robert Smith will note the proposals from the different parties, but then start a discussion on the basic principles that should determine what is delivered.

"If he can drive it on points of principle, the parties will need to treat the this issue seriously and not just be looking back for a back room deal."

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What next for Scotland's future?
  • During the referendum campaign, David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband signed a pledge to devolve more powers to Scotland, if Scots rejected independence
  • Immediately after the result became clear, Mr Cameron appointed Lord Smith of Kelvin to oversee the implementation of more devolution on tax, spending and welfare
  • A white paper is due at the end of November, after a period of consultation
  • A draft new "Scotland Act" law would be published by Burns Night (25 January) 2015 ready for the House of Commons to vote on
  • And legislation would be passed after the 2015 General Election

Follow the story with the BBC by going to our special Scotland: What Next? page.

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Lords to debate Holyrood powers

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