John Major: behind the times?

Major Enters the Devolution Debate

Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar immediately retaliated by claiming that the anti-devolution "Think Twice" campaign means "think Tory".

Mr Major has kept out of the limelight since stepping down as Premier after his May 1 general election defeat, but he wrote an impassioned article in Saturday's edition of the Times newspaper warning that devolution would change the face of Britain.

"Devolution would hurt business. It would hurt people. It would take power away from individuals and mean higher taxes for Scots. It would eventually lead to the break-up of the United Kingdom."

Voting "Yes" would give Prime Minister Tony Blair's "arrogant" Government a blank cheque to stifle debate in Parliament, he claimed. In his most searing attack yet on his successor, Mr Major said he feared the Labour Government would not take the devolution legislation on the floor of the Commons.

The former Prime Minister's plea to the voters

Instead it would be dealt with in House of Commons committees which the Government would pack with "placemen" to prevent most MPs from contributing to the debate.

"The Government has treated the House of Commons with contempt on several occasions since the election. This, however, strikes me as the most serious. It is the Government of arrogance," said Mr Major.

Mr Major's barrage came as Ministers went out in force to campaign in Scotland and Wales for a "Yes" vote.

Mr Dewar accused the former prime minister of ignoring the experiences of other countries where devolution worked successfully.

"It is a little odd. It's his appeal to the people of Scotland - and he publishes it in the London Times. That says something about his perspectives," Mr Dewar said.

In a speech to the Scottish Trades Union Congress in Glasgow, Mr Dewar turned his fire on Mr Major's successor William Hague, who is to visit Scotland on Monday.

Dewar: "think twice" means "think Tory"

"We will have the strange spectacle of the Conservative leader, a Yorkshireman who has spent the last couple of years pretending to be Welsh, lecturing us about what is right for Scotland," he said.

"The policies he advises have led to the extinction of his party. Perhaps it is time Mr Hague thought again." He dismissed the Scottish Tories as "a collection of human bric-a-brac brought together from every part of the country", and claimed devolution's opponents were arguing that Scots could not be trusted to run their own affairs.

"Scots can apparently run great corporations, Scots can sit in Westminster Cabinets, but give them a measure of control over their own affairs and all common sense is abandoned. That is what the doleful Tory refrain boils down to," he said. "There can be no doubt now: Think Twice means think Tory", he added.