No need for referendum "go slow" says Moore
Scottish Secretary Michael Moore has said there is no good reason why the Scottish people should have to wait nearly three years to have their say on Scotland's future.
Scottish Secretary Michael Moore has said there is no good reason why the Scottish people should have to wait nearly three years to have their say on Scotland鈥檚 future.
Mr Moore today produced a referendum timetable that would meet all the legal and procedural requirements and still allow Scots to vote on independence in September 2013 - a full year earlier than the Scottish Government are currently proposing.
The Scottish Secretary said the 鈥済o slow鈥� approach of the Scottish Government is unnecessary and lacks public support.
In 2009 the Scottish Government鈥檚 proposed legislating for and holding the referendum in less than a year. But Mr Moore said that now that there is a real prospect of the referendum taking place, they want to 鈥渒ick the referendum can down the road鈥�.听听
Michael Moore said:
鈥淣o one has yet explained to me why the people of Scotland should have to wait nearly three years to make the most important decision we will ever make. It is not in the interests of the Scottish people to build up uncertainty and make them wait.
鈥淭he timetable I have produced today shows there is no good reason for the Scottish Government鈥檚 go slow approach. We can follow all the proper procedures and parliamentary processes and still have a referendum in September 2013.
鈥淩ecent polls have certainly indicated that people think we should get on with the referendum and hold it sooner than 2014. That certainly makes sense to me.
鈥淭he Scottish Government outlined plans in 2009 where they proposed consulting, drafting a Bill, legislating and holding a referendum all within 12 months. But now, for reasons of their own, they want to kick the referendum can down the road.
鈥淭he timetable the Scottish Government have set out has heel dragging built into it. There are months and months set aside for straight forward tasks. Their consultation finishes in May and they then propose taking the whole summer to analyse responses and then the rest of the year to amend their draft Bill accordingly. That could be done properly in a much shorter time frame.
鈥淭he Scotland Bill will see us transfer the largest ever package of financial powers to the Scottish Parliament over the next four years. Powers over borrowing, income tax and property tax will all transfer to Holyrood.
鈥淏efore we听 can move further powers to Edinburgh we need to know if Scotland is to remain part of the UK. That is entirely logical. We should settle the independence question as early as we can.听听
鈥淏oth Governments should work through the issues we don驴t agree on and produce a referendum that is legal, fair and decisive. If we can negotiate a Section 30 Order to transfer the legal powers to Holyrood then we can give the people of Scotland their say in a referendum next year.听 That鈥檚 a timetable made in the interest of people in Scotland, not politicians in parliaments.鈥�
The following sets out the Secretary of State鈥檚 timetable for a 2013 referendum. It shows three ways in which to speed up the Scottish Government鈥檚 timetable and allow the people of Scotland to have their say a full year earlier than the Scottish Government are proposing:听
Steps
Alternative timetable
Scottish Government timetable
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Introduction of Referendum Bill to Scottish Parliament
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Autumn 2012
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Early 2013
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Royal Assent to the Referendum Bill
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March 2013
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November 2013
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Start of regulated period
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June 2013 (16 weeks before referendum)
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Summer 2014 (16 weeks before referendum)
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Referendum
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September 2013
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Autumn 2014
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