Sir Sean’s devo demand revealed as files lift the lid on Blair’s first year
The late Hollywood actor Sir Sean Connery was happy to support Westminster plans for Scottish devolution – but only if it did not cost him money, previously classified documents suggest.
The James Bond star was said to have been happy to heed Tony Blair’s 1997 call to back the Yes campaign, seeking greater powers for Scotland.
But Connery was concerned that any campaigning in person would put him at the mercy of residency rules, meaning he would have to pay tax if he stayed more than 90 days in the UK during the year – something it was suggested he felt other people from certain ethnic minorities did not have to do.
Edinburgh-born Connery, who spent much of his time in the US, Spain and the Bahamas, was described by Cabinet minister Peter Mandelson as “very keen” to support the PM, due to “several” conversations between himself and the actor in May and June 1997.
In a memo to Jonathan Powell, Mr Blair’s chief of staff, Mr Mandelson wrote: “But he [Connery] is concerned that his scope to help will be badly constrained by the residency rules.
“He sees this as iniquitous to him personally, and claims that certain other individuals and indeed ethnic groups (he mentioned the ‘Arabs’) are not subject to the same strictures.”
Mr Mandelson added: “Certainly, it would be very disappointing if Sean felt unable to help on the devolution front because of a disproportionate effect on his pocket.”
Mr Mandelson suggested Mr Blair contact the actor, or meet him when the pair were next in London at the same time.
The memo, released by the National Archives in Kew, acknowledged Connery’s agreement to support the Yes campaign – and was annotated, playfully, with the words “shurely ‘yesh’” in reference to Connery’s famous and much-impersonated burr.
Mr Mandelson also described how Connery pointed out that Hollywood films were being shot in countries such as Ireland, where tax arrangements were “more sympathetic”.
Connery would go on to be a prominent supporter of independence, despite not living in Scotland.
He said of the referendum in 2014: “I fully respect the choice facing Scotland in September is a matter for the people who choose to work and live there – that’s only right.
“But as a Scot with a life-long love of Scotland and the arts, I believe the opportunity of independence is too good to miss.”
Connery died in 2020 aged 90.
Previously classified documents also disclosed how Downing Street advisers at the time privately conceded Scotland could have a referendum on “anything it wants” without Westminster’s consent.
An email from the prime minister’s key aide Pat Mcfadden ahead of releasing plans for devolution in 1997 also revealed “a couple of very worried Scottish MPS” were concerned about “the slippery slope to independence”.
In an email to Mr Powell, Mr Mcfadden quoted Donald Dewar, then the Scottish Secretary, following speculation in the press that the Scottish Parliament would be able to hold an independence referendum.
Scotland voted in favour of devolution in September 1997, a key Labour general election pledge, creating its own parliament with tax-raising powers responsible for matters such as education, health and transport.
But it was not until 2014 that an independence referendum was held, with 55 per cent voting against proposals to become an independent country.
Emails from Mr Blair’s early days in government, now released by the National Archives, appear to suggest it was known within some in Westminster that an independence referendum could, in theory, be held by Scotland without seeking permission from Westminster.
Mr Mcfadden wrote: “In the Scottish papers at the weekend there was some speculation over whether the Scottish Parliament would be able to hold a referendum on independence.
“The reserved powers model means that the Scottish Parliament will have the power to legislate on anything not in the reserved list. Therefore it can have referendums on anything it wants – even if it cannot enact the result.”
He added: “A couple of very worried Scottish MPS have rung me about this. It scares them a great deal that such a referendum could take place.
“Donald’s [Dewer] view is that the Scottish Parliament can have a referendum on whatever it likes, even matters outside its competence, which is in line with the logic of the White Paper.”
Mr Mcfadden – who would go on to become a Labour MP in 2005 – asked Mr Powell for the prime minister’s view on the matter, although no response from Mr Blair is contained in the tranche of files.
Meanwhile, on Welsh devolution, the newly released memos show that the Downing Street inquest into New Labour’s narrow 1997 referendum victory on the issue of creating a Welsh Assembly suggested the “language mafia” had an impact on the underwhelming result.
Mr Blair’s ambitious plans to decentralise power away from Westminster in September 1997 were dealt a blow following the wafer-thin Yes vote in Wales.
It prompted those at the heart of the plans in Westminster to proffer suggestions on why the result had not been more clear cut. The Yes campaign won with just 50.3 per cent of the vote.
Documents released included a confidential memo in the wake of the referendum result, which identified a number of issues. It highlighted an “absence of clear political direction”, “no clear campaign strategy” and the accusation that the Assembly would create “jobs for the boys”.
Peter Hain, then the parliamentary under-secretary for Wales, wrote in a note to Mr Powell: “On the Welsh language you know my view: this scared people in much of Wales who already resent the language mafia.”