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Devolution review plans outlined Devolution review body launched
(about 6 hours later)
Plans to move forward the review of Scottish devolution 10 years on will be outlined later. Scotland's pro-union political parties have announced details of the commission to re-examine devolution, a decade after it came about.
The constitutional commission has been backed by the pro-union Labour, Tory and Lib Dem parties at Holyrood as well as the UK Government. The body will be chaired by academic Sir Kenneth Calman - who insisted it would be independent and would not dictated to by outside forces.
The body received the go-ahead after being voted for by MSPs. The constitutional commission, to be funded by the Scottish Parliament and UK government, was voted for by MSPs.
Separately, Westminster ministers have been preparing their views on the constitution with the publication of a white paper on the subject. The Scottish Government already has its own constitutional review under way.
The UK Ministry of Justice has been putting the finishing touches to the document, which is likely to lead to a Constitutional Reform bill. The remit of the new commission was outlined in the Scottish Parliament, at an event attended by Sir Kenneth and the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat Holyrood leaders - Wendy Alexander, Annabel Goldie and Nicol Stephen.
'Open debate' 'Take stock'
The UK Treasury has already announced it will be producing research on the Barnett formula, which helps determine the level of public spending in Scotland. The commission - which will not examine independence - has been tasked to review devolution and recommend changes to enable the Scottish Parliament to better serve the people and "continue to secure the position of Scotland in the United Kingdom".
Meanwhile, the announcement on the constitutional commission in Edinburgh will come amid a row over the Scottish Government's "national conversation" on Scotland's constitutional future, which includes a referendum on independence as its preferred option. Sir Kenneth, who described himself as a Scot happily living in the UK, said Scottish devolution had now reached one of its most interesting points.
Bruce Crawford, minister for parliament at Holyrood, defended former Labour first minister Henry McLeish because he backed the initiative. "It is a genuine opportunity to take stock of what the settlement has achieved to date and the challenges it may yet have to address in the years to come," said the chancellor of Glasgow University.
Mr McLeish welcomed the national conversation as an "open debate" on Scotland's constitutional future, but former Labour education minister Sam Galbraith told the Times newspaper he should join the SNP. Welcoming the commission, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "Together we are determined to review the provisions of the Scotland Act in the light of ten years' experience, while securing Scotland's place in the Union."
The Scottish Parliament's vote for the constitutional commission came after the Holyrood government launched its "national conversation", which is examining the case for independence.