Scotland: Referendum

Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan Excerpts

Monday 15th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, I always like it when my noble friend agrees with me and when I am in agreement with him. Sadly, that is not the case on this occasion. The key question is: what does this agreement today mean for the people of Scotland? It means, first of all, that there will be a single question on the ballot paper—no more than that. We understand that many in the Scottish Government wanted a two-question referendum. Secondly, there is a time limit. We now have certainty that the referendum must take place before the end of 2014. That is a tremendous advantage to clear the air, to remove the poison at the heart of Scottish politics and to give real certainty to politics throughout the United Kingdom.

I cannot disagree with the list that my noble friend read out. These will be matters for the Scottish Parliament. We are today announcing a Section 30 order that will devolve to the Scottish Parliament the ability to run the referendum and, naturally, it will have to answer those questions.

[Lord O'Neill of Clackmannan]

Will the Leader of the House confirm that a Section 30 order is required to be passed by both Houses of this Parliament? That may be a tall order to achieve. From what he said today, and the manner in which he answered the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, one gets the impression that the Scottish Tory Party has learnt nothing and forgotten nothing.

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, on the first question, it will be up to both Houses of the Parliament to agree the Section 30 order. I did not understand the second question at all. To coin a phrase, we are all in this together. Across this Dispatch Box—I do not know where the noble Lord stands on these great matters; I thought that he was rather in favour of the United Kingdom—we will be working together to ensure the desired result in the referendum.