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Ashdown: the Tories are "desperate"
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Ashdown Accuses the Tories of "Lies" in the Devolution Debate
The Liberal Democrat leader, Paddy Ashdown, joined the devolution campaign trail in
Scotland by launching a sharp attack on the Tory anti-devolution campaign,
accusing Conservative constitutional affairs spokesman Michael Ancram of
"insult, misinformation and lies".
Mr Ancram provoked a furious response from "Yes" campaigners after claiming
yesterday that a Scottish parliament would create a "cesspool of resentment"
leading to the break-up of the UK.
His comparison of the impending referendum to the last war by invoking the
spirit of Sir Winston Churchill enraged Labour, whose campaigning moved to
Dundee today with the visit of Defence Secretary George Robertson.
"Like Churchill before the last war, we see the terrible dangers ahead and we
give warning," said Mr Ancram.
Hypocrisy
Mr Robertson retaliated by saying the former Northern Ireland minister's
credibility had been damaged by his "hypocrisy". "How can Michael Ancram parade as the hammer of Scottish devolution in August 1997 when he was the salesman of Northern Ireland devolution in April of 1997?," asked Mr Robertson.
"How can he be taken seriously for a moment by mature and thinking voters
when he tells them that an English legislature would open the door to instant
separation when he was telling Northern Ireland voters four months ago that a
Belfast legislature would strengthen the Union?"
Mr Ashdown also dismissed Mr Ancram's remarks as "the overheated language of
a desperate man arguing a desperate cause". He wrote off Tory claims to northern voters that a Scottish parliament could be dominated by old-style Labour interests from Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Clutching at Straws
To the contrary, he said a Scottish parliament would give a greater voice to
rural areas. "Mr Ancram seems to me to be a desperate man clutching at straws, indulging
in insult on one hand, misinformation on the other - and, if I can put it in
unparliamentary language, downright lies on the third," he told the BBC's Good
Morning Scotland programme.
Mr Ashdown argued a Scottish
parliament could be a trailblazer for the rest of Britain, and a double-yes vote
was "crucial".
Campaigning for Proportional Representation
In a speech, Mr Ashdown challenged Scotland to "blaze the trail" for
constitutional reform across Britain by voting for an Edinburgh-based Parliament
with tax varying powers.
He argued that a double yes vote in the Scottish devolution referendum would encourage modernisation of the whole British constitution, providing a boost for campaigns for more open government, a Bill
of Rights, electoral reform and decentralisation.
"These are the gifts that you will make possible when you vote, as I believe you will,
for Scotland to blaze the trail for the great cause of reform and modernisation
for Britain," he said.
"If you have the courage to give Scotland a powerhouse Parliament - a real
voice in Europe, fighting for Scottish interests - then you will be striking a
blow not just for yourselves but for better government for all of us in the
UK," he stressed.
And he challenged other parties to agree that one of the first acts of a
Scottish parliament should be to introduce proportional representation in local
council elections.
This would clean up the "mess, and sometimes the corrupt and foul mess"
caused by the current voting system. "By introducing almost as the first Act of a Scottish parliament a proportional system for local elections, we could provide for clean, decent
local government," he said. "That would be a huge achievement."
Elsewhere in the campaign, the focus was set to switch back to the economic
issues, with Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar set to meet sceptical leaders of
the Scottish CBI in Edinburgh in a bid to convince them that devolution would be
good for business.
The brewing giant Scottish & Newcastle kept business worries about the
possible effects of a devolved parliament's tax varying powers in the campaign
limelight.
Sir Alistair Grant, its chairman, repeated his fears that business could
suffer if income tax was raised north of the border by 3p or business rates were
increased.
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