'Ulster and Wales could follow Scots out of UK'

Avatar · 'Ulster and Wales could follow Scots out of UK'

"LABOUR last night stepped up its attack on Scottish nationalism, warning that the future of the entire United Kingdom is at stake in May's Holyrood elections.

Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor, warned that the UK could not survive a vote in favour of Scottish independence following the election of an SNP-led Executive in May.

Despite accepting that there is growing support for constitutional change in both Scotland and England, the minister ruled out any change in the status of Scottish MPs or the way the Scottish Executive is funded.

The minister, one of Tony Blair's closest Cabinet allies, issued his warning in a GMTV interview to be broadcast tomorrow morning.

"If Scotland went, then I think the relationship with Wales and Northern Ireland would then be in doubt, it seems to me," said Lord Falconer, who was born and educated in Scotland.

"And the abolition of the United Kingdom, which is what it would amount to, would in my view be very detrimental to the prosperity of the people of the United Kingdom as well as the standing of the individual nations in the world."

Labour leaders are worried about surging support for the SNP, which some polls suggest is at least neck-and-neck with Labour, and are planning an all-out offensive on the nationalists in the coming months.

That campaign is likely to follow previous Holyrood strategies, warning voters of what Labour says would be the disastrous financial price of any move towards independence.

In the interview, Lord Falconer admitted that there is "some polling evidence that people both in England and in Scotland want independence" but insisted that Labour will not respond with more constitutional change.

Ahead of Gordon Brown's expected appointment as Prime Minister, some Conservatives are stepping up calls for MPs representing Scottish seats to be barred from voting on Westminster legislation that affects only England.

But Lord Falconer rejected any such move to answer the so-called West Lothian Question, arguing that the Tory suggestion would only fuel the independence movement. "We don't think the right solution is to deprive Scottish MPs of the right to vote on English issues," he said.

"If you weaken the links between Scottish Members of Parliament and the Westminster Parliament you weaken the Union."

Some polls have suggested a majority of English voters would be happy to see Scotland leave the UK, believing Scotland is "subsidised" by English taxpayers.

Lord Falconer, who is also Constitutional Affairs Secretary, rejected any suggestion that the Barnett Formula that helps set central government spending on Scotland should be revised.

Peers including Lord Barnett, the formula's author, have said it should be reworked in this summer's Comprehensive Spending Review, but Lord Falconer said there are "no plans at all" to revise the arrangement.

While Lord Falconer admitted that Scottish devolution has focussed popular attention on the UK constitution, he rejected any suggestion that devolution had boosted the independence movement.

"Suppose that we had said no? "I am absolutely sure that the demands for independence would be much, much stronger than they are now."

And he insisted: "I completely reject the argument that devolution has caused the current position. We've been in power as a government in Westminster for three terms. This is the third election for the Scottish Parliament.

"It is inevitable that there would be, as it were, a by-election factor."

Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, was scornful of Labour's latest attacks yesterday.

He said: "The SNP is working hard to give the Scottish people the choice of fresh thinking and progress that contrasts sharply with a Labour campaign that so far has been little more than empty scaremongering."
THE VIEW FROM CARDIFF

TOMOS Livingstone, political editor of the Cardiff-based Western Mail said: "It is always a mistake to assume that the devolution story in Wales takes exactly the same path as that in Scotland.

"There are a whole range of different factors at play in Welsh politics, as can be seen from the very different powers that were devolved to Cardiff and Edinburgh.

"The difference is likely only to be underlined by the results of the elections in May."
THE VIEW FROM BELFAST

NOEL McAdam, political correspondent at the Belfast Telegraph, said: "There is no move or desire for independence in Northern Ireland at the moment.

"During the 1980s and the aftermath of the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement there was a bit of movement for UDI."

But now, he said: "The unionists see the assembly as a way of staying with the UK while Sinn Fein see it as part of the transition to a united Ireland."

http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=29922007