Select Committee on Scottish Affairs Second Report



Extract from a letter to the Clerk of the Committee from Professor Bogdanor (6.7.98)

The comment is made in the evidence that we decided to devolve to Scotland, without considering the effects upon the rest of the country, in terms, for example, of representation - the West Lothian question etc. That is true. I think the origins of this error lie with the Royal Commission on the Constitution - Kilbrandon - which reported in 1973. The Commission discussed the case for devolution to Scotland, which almost all of the Commissioners supported, without considering how it might affect the rest of the country. Thus the message which politicians, whether Conservative or Labour, derived from the Report was that devolution was possible without side-effects. It has proved difficult to eradicate that message.


 
previous page contents next page

House of Commons home page Parliament home page House of Lords home page search page enquiries

© Parliamentary copyright 1998
Prepared 2 December 1998