The Scottish Parliament: one step closer?

Referendum Bill Through Commons

The Referendums Bill for Scotland and Wales passed its third reading by 339 to 148, Government majority 191, and it now goes to the House of Lords.

It was the new Government's first piece of legislation to complete its Commons stages, after being subject to a controversial "guillotine" to limit debate and speed its passage.

Nationalist Objections

"The referendums will give people in both countries the opportunity to express their views on the Government's proposals for devolution."

The Scottish nationalists argued the case for a three-option vote, giving voters the choice of independence, devolution and the status quo. SNP Leader Alex Salmond told the House, "In my opinion this is the real referendum if a referendum is to be held at all."

"The Labour Party, while in opposition, supported the concept of independence on a ballot paper, now in Government find that a prospect that is too frightening to be put before the Scottish people."

The Welsh nationalists said the people of Wales should be given the chance to endorse legislative and tax-raising powers for the Assembly planned for Cardiff.

Plaid Cymru's Ieuan Wyn Jones said, "There are people in Wales who are asking why should Wales be treated differently from Scotland. Why are the Scots deemed to be mature enough to be voting on a parliament with legislative powers and tax-varying powers but somehow the people of Wales are not?"

For the Government, Mr Hain told the nationalists that their approach had been rejected by the electorate at the election.

Warning against the "potential for confusion" with a multi-option referendum, he insisted: "The greater the `yes' vote, the more authority the Welsh Assembly will have."

"Pig-in-a-Poke" Legislation

The Opposition continued its spirited attack on the Bill. The Shadow Welsh Secretary, William Hague, said his party opposed it because the people of Wales and Scotland were not being given precise details of what they were being asked to vote on.

Mr Hague, a Tory leadership contender, condemned the Bill as "pig-in-a-poke" legislation, saying "It should be a basic principle of referendums that people should know exactly what they are voting on and they cannot know exactly what they are voting on when a pre-legislative referendum is held."

Winding up the debate for the Conservatives, Shadow Home Secretary Michael Howard, another Tory leadership contender, said the Government had failed to answer the central contention that there was no justification for a pre-legislative referendum.

He added, "We fear that this Bill is the first legislative step towards the break-up of the United Kingdom."

Speaking after the vote, Scottish Devolution Minister Henry McLeish welcomed the Bill's third reading and said the Commons passage of the legislation was "an important milestone on the way to modernising government in the United Kingdom".

He said he hoped the Lords would recognise that the Bill was providing for a test of consent and would allow it a fair passage. "There is no reason unnecessarily to delay giving the people of Scotland and Wales the opportunity to vote on the Government's proposals for devolution. It is a manifesto commitment which we are determined to deliver."

BBC Constitutional Affairs Correspondent Joshua Rozenberg analyses the Government's proposals