Better Together?
I enjoyed this article in The Sunday Times in which Richard Keen claims that Labour MPs at Westminster have made a 'dog's dinner' of plans to hand new tax raising powers to the Scottish Parliament after the referendum on independence.
Now Richard Keen is the QC who tore apart South Lanarkshire Council's infamous Freedom of Information appeal to the UK Supreme Court which the Council lost hands down, of course.
So while I don't share his politics, I think Richard's views are worth listening to and I agree with him that Labour MPs at Westminster are up to no good because they resent the Scottish Parliament which shows them up in a poor light and will use every opportunity to try and take it down a peg or two.
Hence the watered down Labour tax plans which are much less ambitious and radical than the Scottish Conservatives.
I also agree with Richard about the dangers of a crony state although I don't think that is peculiar to life after independence because Scotland operated as a Labour closed shop for many years - and Scotland's trade unions are a powerful symbol of this tribal 'one-party' mindset
In recent years things have started to change with a move to more proportional voting for both the Scottish Parliament and Scottish council elections, but there is a long way to go and no room for complacency whichever way Scotland votes on 18 September.
Tory chief shatters No camp unity
By Jason Allardyce - The Sunday Times
Richard Keen QC, Advocate and the new Chairman of the Scottish Conservatives (James Glossop)
ONE of Scotland’s most senior Tories has caused a split in the Better Together campaign by branding Labour’s alternative to independence as “incoherent, unworkable and confused”.
Last week the leaders of the three unionists parties staged a show of unity with a joint statement guaranteeing further devolution in the event of a No vote in September, and were careful not to criticise each other’s visions for more powers within the Union.
But Scottish Tory chairman Richard Keen, nicknamed the rottweiler, launched a withering attack on Labour which has appalled some fellow unionists.
While the Tories propose handing full control over income tax to Holyrood, Labour has instead offered MSPs the power to vary tax rates by up to 15p in the pound — giving Scotland control of three quarters of the 20p basic rate of income tax.
It followed a backlash from Scottish Labour MPs, some of whom feared sweeping extra powers would lead to a cut in their number and hamper the party’s ability to win at Westminster.
Keen said Labour MPs had “slaughtered” Scottish Labour’s devolution plans, leaving them in tatters and undermining Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont.
He added: “I think that the Labour offering was incoherent, unworkable, confused and the product of a horrible compromise with the Labour party at Westminster.
“I think if Labour in Scotland had been left to their own devices they could have come up with something that was at least coherent but such is the Labour fear of their in-built majority in Scotland that they just couldn’t bring themselves to produce anything worthwhile.”
In a further comment likely to irk some in Better Together, he said that while the campaign is now “moving forward effectively and efficiently”, it had been hampered last year by “a lack of enthusiasm. Who was out on the stump? Who was banging a drum for the United Kingdom?”.
One senior Labour source described Keen as “a bloody idiot” while another said: “I suspect he’ll be getting enough admonishment from Ruth Davidson over this without us having to add to his woes.”
A Labour spokesman said: “Richard Keen’s insights into Scottish politics are like Bernard Manning’s tips on flower arranging. Surprising he offers any at all but ultimately we all know he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
Keen also raised eyebrows by suggesting the independence referendum could be won by just three points. With polls putting the No lead at between two and 20 points, the QC said he swithers between the view that Better Together will win by 53% to 47% and a 60/40 result. It reflects the thinking of other senior figures in the Yes and No camps who are braced for the possibility of a very tight finish.
Keen has also angered the Scottish nationalists by suggesting an independent Scotland would be a “crony” state, where critics of independence could be frozen out of state jobs.
“The experience of Ireland from 1922 to 1972 tells you that where you are a very small country with a governing body drawn from a very small cohort there is always a very real danger of cronyism,” he said. “The attitude, you are either with us or against us, or you were either with us or against us. And that permeates government in all very small countries or regions.
“So can you ignore that? Of course you can’t. Has there been a propensity for Alex Salmond to appoint his own people to posts? Yes, of course there has. Would that continue? Yes, of course it would. The scope for it happening would increase after independence, wouldn’t it? Of that there’s no doubt.”
He added: “How’s that reflected? Sometimes in ways that are difficult to discern. No Irishman who fought with the British Army during the Second World War got a government job after their return to Ireland, not in the civil service, not in local authorities, not in the state-owned media, not anyone.
“It’s just one of those unwritten effects, and there were tens of thousands of them. Now that’s an extreme example, but it’s the sort of thing that can happen in a small jurisdiction. I think there are certain personalities within the present government who store up their grievances and take them out occasionally to polish.”
Keen also said Salmond should take a tougher line on cybernats who directed online abuse at critics of independence, such as JK Rowling. “For any political party to stand aside and say, “Well it’s not us...” Let’s not kid ourselves, we know where it is coming from,” he said.
SNP MP Angus MacNeil rejected Keen’s cronyism claims, saying the cash for honours scandal had happened at Westminster where unelected Lords cost taxpayers millions each year.
“As the first minister stated just last week, the referendum debate must be a positive one. Denigration of individuals has no role to play. Any abuse, whether it is directed at people who have come out publicly for Yes or No is totally unacceptable and the SNP has made this clear.”
ONE of Scotland’s most senior Tories has caused a split in the Better Together campaign by branding Labour’s alternative to independence as “incoherent, unworkable and confused”.
Last week the leaders of the three unionists parties staged a show of unity with a joint statement guaranteeing further devolution in the event of a No vote in September, and were careful not to criticise each other’s visions for more powers within the Union.
But Scottish Tory chairman Richard Keen, nicknamed the rottweiler, launched a withering attack on Labour which has appalled some fellow unionists.
While the Tories propose handing full control over income tax to Holyrood, Labour has instead offered MSPs the power to vary tax rates by up to 15p in the pound — giving Scotland control of three quarters of the 20p basic rate of income tax.
It followed a backlash from Scottish Labour MPs, some of whom feared sweeping extra powers would lead to a cut in their number and hamper the party’s ability to win at Westminster.
Keen said Labour MPs had “slaughtered” Scottish Labour’s devolution plans, leaving them in tatters and undermining Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont.
He added: “I think that the Labour offering was incoherent, unworkable, confused and the product of a horrible compromise with the Labour party at Westminster.
“I think if Labour in Scotland had been left to their own devices they could have come up with something that was at least coherent but such is the Labour fear of their in-built majority in Scotland that they just couldn’t bring themselves to produce anything worthwhile.”
In a further comment likely to irk some in Better Together, he said that while the campaign is now “moving forward effectively and efficiently”, it had been hampered last year by “a lack of enthusiasm. Who was out on the stump? Who was banging a drum for the United Kingdom?”.
One senior Labour source described Keen as “a bloody idiot” while another said: “I suspect he’ll be getting enough admonishment from Ruth Davidson over this without us having to add to his woes.”
A Labour spokesman said: “Richard Keen’s insights into Scottish politics are like Bernard Manning’s tips on flower arranging. Surprising he offers any at all but ultimately we all know he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
Keen also raised eyebrows by suggesting the independence referendum could be won by just three points. With polls putting the No lead at between two and 20 points, the QC said he swithers between the view that Better Together will win by 53% to 47% and a 60/40 result. It reflects the thinking of other senior figures in the Yes and No camps who are braced for the possibility of a very tight finish.
Keen has also angered the Scottish nationalists by suggesting an independent Scotland would be a “crony” state, where critics of independence could be frozen out of state jobs.
“The experience of Ireland from 1922 to 1972 tells you that where you are a very small country with a governing body drawn from a very small cohort there is always a very real danger of cronyism,” he said. “The attitude, you are either with us or against us, or you were either with us or against us. And that permeates government in all very small countries or regions.
“So can you ignore that? Of course you can’t. Has there been a propensity for Alex Salmond to appoint his own people to posts? Yes, of course there has. Would that continue? Yes, of course it would. The scope for it happening would increase after independence, wouldn’t it? Of that there’s no doubt.”
He added: “How’s that reflected? Sometimes in ways that are difficult to discern. No Irishman who fought with the British Army during the Second World War got a government job after their return to Ireland, not in the civil service, not in local authorities, not in the state-owned media, not anyone.
“It’s just one of those unwritten effects, and there were tens of thousands of them. Now that’s an extreme example, but it’s the sort of thing that can happen in a small jurisdiction. I think there are certain personalities within the present government who store up their grievances and take them out occasionally to polish.”
Keen also said Salmond should take a tougher line on cybernats who directed online abuse at critics of independence, such as JK Rowling. “For any political party to stand aside and say, “Well it’s not us...” Let’s not kid ourselves, we know where it is coming from,” he said.
SNP MP Angus MacNeil rejected Keen’s cronyism claims, saying the cash for honours scandal had happened at Westminster where unelected Lords cost taxpayers millions each year.
“As the first minister stated just last week, the referendum debate must be a positive one. Denigration of individuals has no role to play. Any abuse, whether it is directed at people who have come out publicly for Yes or No is totally unacceptable and the SNP has made this clear.”
