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Alex Salmond says No voters 'tricked' by devolution promise

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has said No voters in the referendum were "tricked" by a lat...
Newstalk
Newstalk

16.54 21 Sep 2014


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Alex Salmond says No voters &a...

Alex Salmond says No voters 'tricked' by devolution promise

Newstalk
Newstalk

16.54 21 Sep 2014


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Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has said No voters in the referendum were "tricked" by a late promise of more devolved powers for Scotland - and the "writing is on the wall for Westminster".

People who voted against independence are "angry and hurt" that the three main party leaders' promises for extra powers for Scotland are now being "reneged on", he said.

Mr Salmond told Sky's Murnaghan programme that within 24 hours of Friday's No victory there was already disagreement between Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour leader Ed Miliband on the timetable for devolution.

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The "logjam" was caused by Mr Cameron saying it should go in tandem with constitutional reform in England, including barring Scottish MPs from voting on solely English matters, while Mr Miliband disagreed, Mr Salmond said.

He questioned why they had not already thought of that when they signed former prime minister Gordon Brown's timetable for the transfer of more powers to Scotland.

Mr Salmond, who announced he was standing down as Scottish First Minister and as leader of the Scottish National Party after voters rejected independence by 55% to 45%, said if the "Westminster gang" think Scots will accept the delay "they've got another thing coming".

The majority of voters under 55 backed independence, while most people over 55 voted against it, so the "destination is pretty certain" for Scotland, he said.

He said it was these No voters who are feeling most angry by Westminster's broken promises and fear they may have "impeded progress for the next generation.

"David Cameron doesn't think he can carry his own backbenchers, never mind the threat from UKIP, unless he links Scottish progress to changes in England," Mr Salmond said.

"Ed Miliband doesn't want to do that because Labour would lose their majority over English business in the House of Commons. That is the logjam the Westminster leaders got themselves into. There is a big issue there, but shouldn't they have thought of that before they made a solemn vow and pledge to the Scottish people."

'Clear timetable'

A Downing Street spokesman earlier said, "the three pro-Union parties have made commitments on further powers for the Scottish Parliament and we have set out a clear timetable to do this.

"Lord Smith of Kelvin has agreed to oversee the process to take forward the devolution commitments with powers over tax, spending and welfare all agreed by November and draft legislation published by January. This Government has delivered on devolution and we will do so again in the next Parliament."

Earlier, politicians from opposing sides of the referendum campaign went to a special church service at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh aimed at healing their divisions.

On Monday, Mr Cameron will host a summit at Chequers to discuss his plans for "English votes for English laws" with senior Tories, including some of the loudest critics of his decision to back Mr Brown's power transfer timetable.

The meeting is being widely seen as a bid to head off potential backbench rebellion on constitutional reform.


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