Labour peer call to resist ‘centralism’

BARONESS Royall of Blaisdon, the Opposition leader in the Lords, said the SNP wanted more centralism and that trend needed to be reversed.

She said many people who voted in favour of Scottish independence were not converts to nationalism but believed no-one was “listening to their concerns”.

“It would seem to make perfect sense that Scotland should be looking to devolve internally in the same way as England,” she said in a House of Lords debate on devolution following the referendum.

“Not just to city regions around Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen, but to county regions too. More powers closer to home, for local authorities to work together, influence change and offer the promise of a better future. Not just to those youngsters who voted Yes but also their younger siblings who weren’t yet old enough to vote but might hold similar views.

“Such an approach could also help deal with the false promises of the SNP and their political bedfellows, for whom a centralised – a more centralised – Scotland is everything.”

Lady Royall warned against Conservative proposals for English votes for English laws, which she called a “purely separatist proposal” at Westminster, and reiterated her party’s calls for a constitutional convention.

Labour is boycotting a Cabinet committee led by leader of the House of Commons William Hague on English votes and Lady Royall warned against “partisan politics and playing people in different parts of the UK off against each another”.