This week was extremely busy and historic for Scottish politics with the second reading of the Scotland Bill, EU Referendum Bill and the first Scottish Questions in the House of Commons with the new compliment of Scottish MPs.
The first post General Election poll by TNS came out showing support for the SNP at record high of 60% in the constituency vote for the Scottish Parliament – quite an achievement after 8 years in Government. When the numbers are plugged into the ScotlandVotes seat predictor tool Holyrood could look something like this in May 2016:
Scotland Bill
The new majority Conservative Government wasted absolutely no time introducing the latest Scotland Bill. There was a mere 11 days between the Bill’s introduction and its second reading this Monday. It is evident that the want the Bill to pass quite quickly.
The second reading of the Bill was David Mundell MP’s first outing at the dispatch box as Secretary of State for Scotland having held the ministerial post at the Scotland Office last parliament. He argued that the Bill implemented the Smith Commission’s recommendations in full and he outlined the new powers, in areas such as welfare and aspects of taxation that are being devolved to the Scottish Parliament. He said that when implemented the Scottish Parliament will be responsible for raising 50% of the revenue it currently spends making it one of the most powerful devolved legislatures in the world.
Labour’s Shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray opened with a witty joke that he shares something in common with Mr. Mundell in that, “We both share the distinction of being the most difficult choices that our party leaders had when choosing someone for our respective roles.” He then set out Labour’s plan for the Bill which will seek to amend it to go beyond Smith but which will keep in place the Barnett formula and the UK pension system. They also want to go further on welfare and fully devolve Housing benefit.
SNP Westminster Leader Angus Robertson MP – using the new speaking rights guaranteed him by virtue of being the third largest party – said they will table amendments to strengthen the ability to top up benefits, put the Scottish Parliament, Government and the Sewel Convention on a proper legislative footing and to devolve setting minimum wage. He was questioned over whether the SNP would submit an amendment to deliver full fiscal autonomy. This was confirmed on Thursday when the party submitted an amendment that would give the Scottish Parliament the ability to implement the measures at a time of its choosing. The first day of debate in committee of the whole house is this Monday.
First Minster visits USA
The other big news this week was the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s trip to the USA. There were lots of meetings including with the International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, a jobs announcement for Glasgow in the space sector, and a very important meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken. However what perhaps garnered the most attention was her appearance on the hugely popular Daily Show with Jon Stewart – and the general consensus is she did quite well in what can be a tricky experience for politicians.