 | 'The UK parliament is and will remain sovereign in all matters.' Government white paper on devolution, 24 th July 1997. |  |
| 'The UK parliament is and will remain sovereign in all matters.' Government white paper on devolution, 24 th July 1997. | |
FOR a document which has been hailed as the start of a brave new tomorrow, the white paper is long - very long - on reassurances. And those reassurances belabour at some length the fact that this may be the start of something big ... but not that big.
In an effort to tone down what had been called the Braveheart language of the initial draft of the document, the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and the Scottish Secretary, Donald Dewar, have produced between them a very Unionist piece of paper.
In his preface, Mr Blair talks about giving the people of Scotland "more control over their own affairs within the United Kingdom". Mr Dewar goes much further. He mentions the words "United Kingdom" or "UK" no fewer than six times in the first two paragraphs of his foreword.
Braveheart it isn't. On page after page, the reader is reassured in the caring family- solicitor tones of Mr Dewar that we have nothing to be afraid of. Try this: "Scotland will, of course, remain an integral part of the United Kingdom." Or this: "The UK parliament is and will remain sovereign in all matters." Followed quickly by: "...Westminster will be choosing to exercise that sovereignty by devolving legislative responsibilities to a Scottish parliament without in any way diminishing its own powers."
It hardly smacks of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, even less of the heady language of the American constitution, and its tone is miles away, even, from those famous words written and signed all those years ago in Arbroath Abbey.
We are clearly no longer the emotional people we were then. Either that or there was no Dewar ancestor around in 1320 to do the note-taking and scribing. But this is no independence document. Rather it is a statement of limited powers to be trickled down to a Scottish parliament.
By stressing its Unionist context, Mr Dewar has sought to maintain that the devolution proposals pose no threat to that Union. I accept at once that Mr Dewar, no more than Mr Blair, wishes to see the break-up of the United Kingdom. I also accept that the document has been framed with this in mind and I acknowledge that there are safeguards and caveats written in to ensure that the Union continues to prosper.
But nowhere does the white paper address - except in oblique references - the dangers the plans pose to that continuation. We have been lectured by the new Government about the need to be constructive about its proposals, rather than destructive. So in that spirit it is right that attention should be drawn to specific areas of possible difficulty.
The powers that are to be devolved are not insubstantial. Mr Dewar seems to have won all the significant battles with his Cabinet adversaries .
His main victory, if such it is, has come over the powers the Scottish parliament is to enjoy. By insisting that everything be devolved, except those specifically reserved for Westminster, there should be no confusion of responsibilities when the new parliament finally sits.
Nevertheless there is much scope for friction. Take Europe, for example. The 13-section chapter on Scotland's relations with the European Union shows, inadvertently, that danger lurks almost everywhere on this prickly subject.
The Scottish parliament will not negotiate directly with the EU, as many of the more ardent devolutionists had wanted. Instead, Scottish ministers will be able to attend EU meetings, but very much as pillion passengers - able to look on and speak, but not to decide policy.
This is an important point. Having its own parliament will give Scotland a new sense of nationhood, however over-inflated, but this mood may well become quickly frustrated by its inability to deal directly with other nations in Europe.
In addition, there is also the fact that a huge proportion of the work of the current Westminster parliament is taken up in dealing with European-inspired legislation. With devolution, much of this will be dealt with in Edinburgh - with the Scottish parliament powerless to do anything about any of it. Except make a great deal of noise, of course. That is not so different from the Westminster experience, except that it is London which will have the final say on all matters European - with Edinburgh looking on.
The white paper makes much of the fact that the Scottish executive and the London Cabinet will work together on European issues, but there is no doubt about who will be boss.
The document accepts the risks in this area, saying: "Provided the Scottish executive is willing to work in that spirit of collaboration and trust, there will be an integrated process which builds upon the benefits of the current role of the Scottish Office within government."
The trouble here is that having their own parliament will lead Scots to believe that they should be getting a whole lot more than they are actually getting. And as for "collaboration and trust", well, we'll see - especially if another BSE crisis or fishing war looms.
This aspiration-deficit has always been the problem when discussing the Scottish parliament. It promised so much, yet threatened to deliver so little. But the white paper answers a great deal of those criticisms. It is a substantial document.
Personally, I would have preferred not to be going down this route. I am still fearful that the stresses and strains inherent in its proposals will lead to the break-up of the Union, something few Scots really want. And I shudder sometimes when I think what the calibre of some of the MSPs might be, especially when party bosses - not the voters - will effectively pick 56 out of the 129 members.
But the fact remains we are going to have a devolved Scottish parliament. Mr Dewar and his Liberal Democrat allies, plus the Scottish Tories, or whatever they call themselves when they finally wake up to what is really going on in their country, will have a fight on their hands to preserve the Union.
The Scottish Nationalists cannot believe their luck. The field of battle will soon be theirs, the issue on which to attempt the break-up of the United Kingdom theirs to choose.
They may have been misguided, but by their votes on 1 May the Scottish people decided that the best way of preserving the Union is to have their own parliament. That may not have been the main reason for voting the way they did but it is a principal effect of their action.
With fingers crossed and more in hope than expectation, they'll have to make it work.
Now is surely the time, once the formality of the referendum is over, for all good men to come to the aid of their parliament.
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