The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Holyrood in line to get recall powers
POWERSTO kick wrong-doing politicians out of office will be devolved to Holyrood after all the parties round the Smith Commission table agreed to the plans in principle.
Both the SNP and Scottish Greens already want full control over the electoral system granted to the Scottish Parliament, and sources last night said Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives were willing to transfer the ability to sack misbehaving MSPs north.
Recall was debated at the House of Commons this week, where the case of wife-beating Bill Walker was raised. Currently, all the relevant powers are reserved to the UK Parliament.
But a Westminster insider told The Courier: “There is a clear steer from the UK parties that this (devolving recall) is a done deal. It’s an obvious thing the parties can agree on and an obvious win.”
Despite repeated calls, ex-Dunfermline MSP Walker could not be thrown out of Holyrood as the maximum jail term he could receive was a year — one day under the required amount to sack him.
He eventually quit his seat a fortnight after a high-profile campaign accompanied his conviction for 23 domestic assaults against three ex-wives and a step-daughter over a near 30-year period.
Dunfermline and West Fife MP Thomas Docherty raised Walker’s case with the UK Government onTuesday before asking what talks had taken place between the UK and Scottish governments about shifting powers to Holyrood and why the proposals did not cover devolved administrations.
Liberal Democrat MPTom Brake, deputy leader of the House of Commons, replied that recall was “clearly a matter on which the Scottish parties need to get agreement”.
After hearing of the apparent cross-party consensus on recall, Mr Docherty said: “I am delighted to hear the UK Government recognised our suggestion as a sensible one.
“The ball is now in the SNP’s court to respond in an appropriate and constructive manner within the talks.
“It is ridiculous that scandals like Bill Walker could not have been resolved by the Scottish Parliament itself.”
A UK Government spokesperson said: “Political parties have made proposals to the Smith Commission — including on recall — and the Smith Commission is overseeing cross-party talks to reach agreement and produce heads of agreement by November 30. We will await the commission’s report.”
Members of t he SNP, Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Greens gathered for the first meeting of the Smith Commission yesterday.
John Swinney and Linda Fabiani will represent the SNP, Iain Gray and Gregg McClymont Labour, Annabel Goldie and Adam Tomkins are up for the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats have Michael Moore and Tavish Scott, while the Greens have put forward Patrick Harvie and Maggie Chapman.