How Scotland’s ‘No’ vote will still change Britain
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Version 0 of 1. The "No" camp won Scotland's landmark independence vote; the British union is preserved. But the status quo is not. In the run-up to the referendum, Britain's three main parties panicked as the "Yes" campaign surged in polls. The party leaders, including Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron, all signed a pledge to Scottish voters, guaranteeing that if Scotland stayed in the union, Parliament in Westminster would grant Scots "extensive new powers" over their domestic governance. What those powers are, though, are now up to debate and negotiation. Scotland already retains considerable control of its own affairs. Some want "maximum devolution," meaning control over literally everything with the exception of defense policy and foreign affairs. That scenario is unlikely to happen, but Scots can expect significant changes on a number of fronts. Here's a run-down of what's at stake after the referendum. One of the sticking points of the "Yes" campaign was its desire to retain a robust welfare state, even as lawmakers in the Conservative-led Parliament steadily chipped away at Britain's social services and hiked tuition fees at universities south of the border. The pledge signed by Cameron, Labor leader Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats guarantees that the Scotland's own government would have the "final say" on the matter of funding for its health services. Scottish nationalist politicians will also fight to make sure higher education continues to be free in Scotland. Other proposals include allowing Scotland greater control over housing benefits and strengthening Edinburgh's ability to create jobs. Central to devolution -- and Scotland's maintenance of its social democracy -- would be Scotland winning greater powers to levy taxes at rates it determines on its own. A Labor Party proposal suggests Scotland could vary income tax paid by its residents by up to 15 pence per pound. Labor also proposed a scrap of what's known as the "bedroom tax," a controversial measure imposed by Cameron's government in 2012, which curbs benefits to claimants living in quarters deemed overly spacious. Conservatives are willing to offer Scotland more license over its tax schemes. The Scots already have their own distinct regime of property taxes and may now also push for their right to levy capital gains tax, VAT and other duties, although it's not clear that they'll win any of that. London is loathe to afford Scotland any greater control over oil assets in the North Sea, which the nationalists believed would have buoyed the economy of an independent Scotland. Whatever emerges, the result will likely be a complicated mess of divergent tax policies in Britain -- perhaps four different regimes, if Wales and Northern Ireland also win more fiscal autonomy. Ultimately, the question underlying Scottish independence is a question for everyone living in the four home nations of the United Kingdom: How should we be governed? The referendum may put to rest Scottish independence efforts for another a generation or so, but it does not silence growing calls for further devolution and constitutional reform of a system that critics say has long been too centralized in London. In the wake of the "No" victory, Cameron raised the specter of federalism in Britain. "Just as Scotland will vote separately in the Scottish Parliament on their issues of tax, spending and welfare, so too England, as well as Wales and Northern Ireland, should be able to vote on these issues," he said. Beyond the four countries that comprise the U.K., there are also calls for individual cities to be empowered and take greater role in the governance of their residents. Cameron was echoed by the leader of the far-right U.K. Independence Party, Nigel Farage, who said the time has come for an English parliament in London. Currently, MPs elected in Scotland sitting in Westminster can impact matters of domestic policy in England, while no elected English MP can play a similar role in Scotland, which has its own parliament. "We've had a lot from Scotland, but the tail cannot go on wagging the dog any longer," said Farage. England accounts for some 86 percent of Britain's population. |