In the United Kingdom, the power and lawmaking have come from Westminster in London for a very long time. This has consistently left the countries outside of England that are part of the kingdom feeling left behind. Devolution is all about these countries’ desire to make their own laws again and not have them dictated by people who don't share their identity or interests. For almost half a century now, Scotland has been passionate in its quest to do this! Let's find out exactly what Scottish devolution is.
Scottish devolution: definition
Devolution is a term that describes the diversion of central or singular power to local and regional governments. In the UK, there are devolved governments in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales, which were established in 1998. This article will focus on Scottish devolution but first, it is vital to see why devolution was such a priority.
Fig. 1 - Flag of Scotland
History of Scottish devolution
In this quote, you can see the swelling pride from Donald Dewar after the devolved Scottish Parliament opened.
I look forward to the days when this Chamber will sound with debate, argument and passion. When men and women all over Scotland will meet to work together for a future built from the first principles of social justice.1
- Donald Dewar, First Minister of Scotland, July 1999
The seeds for a devolved Scottish government, however, go centuries back. The Scottish drive for autonomy and independence is certainly not something new. To understand the history of devolution let's first look at some important terms.
| Term | Definition |
| Bill | Proposal or idea for a new law or changes to existing laws. |
| Act | A bill that has been approved and written into law by Parliament. |
| Parliament/Assembly | An elected committee that discusses public laws and affairs. |
| Parliamentary Committee | A commission whose role is to consider new policies and evaluate existing ones. |
| Referendum | A yes/no vote put to the electorate on a specific political question or issue. |
| Electorate | The eligible people in a region or country who vote. |
| Constitution | The rulebook by which a state is governed and the rights a citizen has. |
| First-past-the-post voting | An election system in which the single candidate with the most votes in a voting area gets a seat in Parliament, even if they have less than 50% of the vote. The losing party gets no representation. |
Overview of the Scottish devolution history
- The 1200s – 1707: the original Scottish Parliament ran independently from England and Westminster.
- 1707: the Acts of Union merged the Kingdom of Scotland with the Kingdom of England to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Parliament in Westminster became the Parliament of Great Britain. As a result, Scotland's Parliament closed.
- 1885: the Secretary of State for Scotland was re-created, but this position had little power as a member of the cabinet in the UK until 1926.
The post had first been created after the Acts of Union but was removed after the Scots had supported Charles Stuart in the Jacobite rising of 1745, in which he invaded England.
- 1913: the idea of a Government of Scotland bill was supported in the UK Parliament but postponed due to the First World War.
- 1969: Wilson's Labour government tasked the Royal Commission of Constitution to evaluate the structures of the UK. They considered some methods of devolution detailed in the Kilbrandon Report of 1973.
- 1978: the Scotland Act was passed to establish a devolved government. A referendum on Scottish devolution took place in 1979 and received 51.6% support for devolution. However, the turnout was not significant enough so the idea was repealed.
- 1980–87: the UK government did not consider devolution. Conservative governments favoured Scottish business and provided more administrative power to Scotland. They did not consider plans for a Scottish Parliament.
- 1987: the Scottish Constitutional Convention (SCC) was formed to continue the conversation about devolution. They were unhappy with Scotland's treatment under the Conservatives.
- 1989: the SCC proposed a ‘Claim of Right for Scotland’. This outlined the plan for a Scottish Parliament/Assembly that could make laws.
- 1995: the SCC formalised plans for a devolved government in another paper entitled ‘Scotland's Parliament, Scotland's Right’.
- 1997: a new Labour government headed by Tony Blair came to power in the UK Parliament. They arranged a second referendum whereby the Scottish public would decide if they should have their own Parliament. The first attempt at Scottish devolution failed in 1979. Would it be different this time?
- September 1997: the public voted for Scottish devolution and the creation of an independent Parliament which would have the power to raise taxes.
- January 1998: discussions about Scottish devolution began in Westminster Parliament.
November 1998: the proposal became legislation. The Scotland Act allowed Scotland to form an independent Parliament.
May 1999: Scottish devolved Parliament elections started.
July 1999: the Queen opened Scottish Parliament at the Church of Scotland, Edinburgh.
2004: the new Scottish Parliament building was finished in Holyrood, Edinburgh.
Fig. 2 - Entrance to Scottish Parliament
The Scottish devolution bill
The Scottish devolution bill refers to the 1998 Scotland Act. Let's look at some of its key points below:
The Scottish Parliament would be in session by January 2000.
The Parliament would have the power to create laws on a variety of issues but not all of them.
The money to be spent on public services was higher than the UK average.
Finances would still come from the central government in Westminster but the Scottish Parliament had the power to change tax by up to 3p. This doesn't sound like a lot but equals an overall £450 million increase or decrease per year.
Scottish Members of Parliament (MSPs) would serve four-year terms. 129 MSPs would be selected: 73 constituency members by the first-past-the-post electoral method and 56 regional members via proportional representation.
Scotland's representation would withdraw from Westminster.
EU and Westminster lawmaking would be debated.
Scottish devolution results
Over 60% of the Scottish electorate population voted in the second devolution referendum. As we've seen, the Scottish people had voted ‘yes’ for devolution in the 1970s too but the threshold of 40% of the voting electorate was not met, so the vote was invalid. This time around they were overwhelmingly in favour of a Scottish Parliament (74.3%) and 63.5% wanted the new Parliament to have tax-raising capabilities.
So, who controls what?
| Edinburgh (Devolved Matters) | Westminster (Reserved Matters) |
- Health and social care services
| |
| - Constitution or rules of governance
|
| |
- Elections of local councils
| |
| |
Laws in the Scottish Parliament start with a bill. The public and the parliamentary committee consider the bill. Then, the parliamentary committee examines the bill in greater detail and suggests amendments or improvements.
Finally, more amendments are proposed in Parliament and the bill is accepted or rejected.
If a bill is accepted, a UK government officer evaluates how it fits with the Supreme Court and the European Convention of Human Rights. Finally, the Royal Assent of approval from the Queen transforms the bill into an Act of Parliament.
The media's role in Scottish devolution
BBC Scotland launched its own channel in 2019, but the broadcasting has been shown to cost more per viewer than any of the BBC's other channels, and it does not reach a large percentage of the Scottish audience. Viewing figures demonstrate that Scottish viewers still prefer their own STV channel,2 highlighting the continued disconnect between Scotland and England. The streaming service Netflix also enjoys far greater Scottish consumption than the BBC.
As well as BBC Scotland, Channel 4 has also recently opened a creative centre in Glasgow, but more than 20 years after devolution many Scots feel that independence is the only solution for their marginalisation in the UK.
This criticism is not unique to Scotland and Wales, Northern Ireland and even the North of England regularly bemoan the London-centric media.
Alex Salmond vs the BBC
The First Minister of the Scottish National Party (SNP) at the time of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum was Alex Salmond. During the lead-up to the vote, he had several high-profile arguments, notably with presenter Andrew Marr and political editor Nick Robinson.
The BBC was accused of bias in these interviews, and Salmond has since said that the bias of the BBC should have been foreseen and was a 'significant factor' in the failed referendum. He has also attacked Scottish and British media outlets, adamant that without the smear campaign against independence the result would have been very different.
Further Scottish devolution referendums
Since the 1998 Scotland Act, there have been some other referendums that have seen Scotland gain even more autonomy. Some were more successful than others.
- 2012 Scotland Act: this gave greater freedom to Scotland to make financial decisions with the biggest delegating of power in UK history.
- 2014 Independence Referendum: the Edinburgh Agreement in 2012 between the Scottish Parliament and the UK government stated that a referendum for Scottish independence would take place. 55% of the electorate voted ‘no’ to independence.
- 2016 Scotland Act: further devolutions to Scotland include more freedom with taxes, abortion, educational reforms, oil licensing, and welfare.
The SNP still want Scottish independence to be part of the UK-wide conversation but leader Nicola Sturgeon (below) is conscious of the implications of another failed attempt to break away and is biding her time before trying again.
Scotland's devolution has seen a resurgence in national pride and the Scottish Parliament has taken advantage of its autonomy to make its laws. The question of a yes/no referendum is perhaps too simple as Scots cannot predict what independence will mean. For now, Covid-19 has put the conversation on hold, but it isn't going away.
Fig. 3 - Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon
Scottish Devolution - Key takeaways
- A desire for Scottish autonomy and independence stems from being governed by Westminster for centuries.
- The first referendum for devolution failed in the 1970s. The second referendum was successful and led to the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
- Scottish decision-makers have diverted from Westminster in different aspects of their policy since devolution such as tax, social care, and education.
- The media and the treatment of Scotland by the BBC are emblematic of the continued marginalisation of Scotland in the UK, exemplified by Alex Salmond.
- Despite the failed 2014 Independence Referendum, the drive for Scottish independence and full autonomy remains.
References
- Andrew Burnet, Chambers Book of Speeches (2006), pp. 245.
- Greg Russell, 'STV setting on-screen and online records as it eclipses BBC across Scotland', The National (30th April 2021).
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