Stephen Dorrell: Devolution would do "serious damage"

A tartan tax would be "perverse"...

Tories must ensure there is a "Scottish dimension"...

Dorrell Steps Up His Leadership Campaign

The former Health Secretary has denounced the Government's devolution proposals as "half baked" and warned that they would drive a wedge between Scotland and the rest of the UK.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme he attacked Labour's plan to allow a Scottish Parliament the right to raise or lower taxes.

"It would be perverse for the people of Scotland to vote for a `tartan tax' to make themselves subject to extra taxation at a time when all around the world governments are looking to reduce their tax burdens to make their economies more competitive," he said.

Mr Dorrell, who had to be overruled by John Major when he claimed earlier this year that a Tory Government would scrap any Scottish Parliament, signalled that he would be at the forefront of the "no" campaign in the devolution referendum later this year.

The Tory leadership contender also warned that "The proposals that Labour are tabling would do serious damage to the Union because they would drive a wedge between Scotland and the rest of the UK...as the people of Scotland come to consider the implications of an extra tax specially directed at Scotland and proposals that bring new anomalies into the constitutional arrangements between England and Scotland, I hope they will recognise the dangers."

Mr Dorrell said that the Conservative Party need to look for ways to ensure "the biggest possible Scottish" dimension to the government of Scotland within the United Kingdom.

He dismissed the idea that his campaign was running out of steam with only a few top Tories backing him.

"I'm very confident when the votes are counted my candidacy will be seen to be a serious runner and I'm very confident I shall be able to persuade my colleagues in Parliament of the importance of the issues I'm putting forward," he said.

The former Health Minister has also published a pamphlet today containing his three main speeches on One Nation, Europe and the economy. In it he sets out his blueprint for Tory success.

"We need a new, democratic constitution which binds the different parts of the organisation into a more disciplined and cohesive political force. ...We must reorganise our central campaigning activity so that the Conservative voice is seen to be more, rather than less, effective than Labour's Millbank Tower," writes Mr Dorrell. He also urges an expansion in party membership, with grassroots supporters given a "real say" in key decisions.

On Friday night Mr Dorrell was narrowly beaten by John Redwood in three way debate with Peter Lilley, also standing for the party leadership, in front of party activists in the East Midlands.

Other Leadership Contenders

William Hague, the former Welsh Secretary and the youngest contender for the Tory leadership,has called for party reform. "The leadership of the Conservative Party needs to listen to what everyone in the party has to say. Old structures will have to be reviewed, some changed, some abandoned. Some people will have to be offended. Old ideas will have to give way to new ones," he said.

Mr Hague also promised that if he were elected leader he would try to make the party appeal to younger voters and set a target of doubling the membership in two years.

Elsewhere former Home Secretary, Michael Howard, is due to relax, well away from the leadership struggle, by watching his team Swansea play Northhampton at Wembley in the afternoon.