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Donald Dewar: necessary role
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Devolved Scotland to Keep Cabinet Seat
The Government has confirmed that Scotland would continue to be represented by a Cabinet minister even after the
establishment of a Scottish Parliament.
The Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar, in an interview for BBC 2's Newsnight, said a minister would sit in the Cabinet in order to represent Scotland on issues such as social security, on which decisions would continue to be made at Westminster.
There would still be a need for his own post should the people back a Scottish
Parliament in a referendum. He said: "I think there will be a need for it for
some considerable time."
A Scottish Office spokesman said the proposed division of power between the
Secretary of State and the parliament would be clear after the devolution White
Paper was published on Thursday. He claimed it had always been clear that
there would still be a role for Scottish Secretary, and that Mr Dewar had merely clarified the position.
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