DEVOLUTION (Hansard, 23 May 1977)

§ 45. Mr. Canavan
asked the Lord President of the Council whether he is now able to make a statement about reintroduction of a Bill on devolution.

§ 48. Mr. Tim Renton
asked the Lord President of the Council when he proposes to bring forward new proposals for the decentralisation of government in the United Kingdom.

§ The Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Mr. Michael Foot)
Consultations are nearing completion and I hope to make a statement shortly.

§ Mr. Canavan
As the Tories have turned a full somersault by completely ditching devolution, and the separatists in the Scottish National Party seem to have taken leave of their senses by saying that they will support the Tory-Unionists in any vote of confidence, will the Lord President make a special plea to all Labour Members to support devolution, which is the policy of the Labour Party, instead of being identified with the reactionary ideas that were expressed at the Tory cattle show in Perth a fortnight ago?

§ Mr. Foot
My hon. Friend has expressed the matter so succinctly that I would not wish to embroider it at all. Of 1010 course, he is a greater authority on the Perth Show than I am.

§ Mr. Renton
Anticipating the state-men that the Lord President intends to make to the House, will he say whether he envisages any devolution legislation allowing for local tax-raising powers? If that is his intention, will it be acceptable to the Lib-Lab coalition?

§ Mr. Foot
The question of marginal tax arrangements or others affecting taxation is one concept that we promised to reconsider. We have been reconsidering it in our discussions, but I am not yet in a position to make a statement.

§ Mrs. Bain
Instead of listening to the rantings of his hon. Friend the Member for West Stirlingshire (Mr. Canavan), will the Lord President say whether he has considered the very constructive points put forward by the Scottish National Party in previous debates? Also, will he say whether, in his opinion, it is logical for the House to continue to support a Bill that provides no fund-raising powers and does not strengthen the powers that were outlined in the previous Bill?

§ Mr. Foot
The representations made to me by the Scottish National Party included the presentation of a draft Bill. In my opinion that draft Bill has not the faintest chance of getting through this House of Commons or any House of Commons. It is a sheer propaganda exercise on the part of the SNP. If members of the Scottish National Party really want to see a devolution measure get through the House, they will consider the measures that we shall bring forward again.

§ Mr. Anderson
Does my right hon. Friend agree that in advance of his statement there are two things that must be made crystal clear—that there is no prospect of any progress being made on devolution this Session, and that the Bill that we have discussed is now dead.

§ Mr. Foot
I do not accept what my hon. Friend says. It is difficult to make progress on such a Bill in this Session, but the proposals that we shall bring forward to the House will be an indication of our determination to proceed with devolution along the lines of the promise that we made during the last election. I hope that I shall have my hon. Friend's support in carrying out that commitment.

§ Mr. Wigley
In view of the Government's likely capitulation to the Liberals on the question of two Bills, will the right hon. Gentleman ensure that, as the Labour Party commitment on devolution for Wales has been in existence 10 years longer than that for Scotland, our Bill will have priority over that for Scotland?

§ Mr. Foot
The hon. Member will have to argue that out with the hon. Members next to whom he sits and with whom he occasionally agrees. The Government commitment to devolution for Wales is as strong as their commitment to Scotland, and we believe that both measures should come forward.