No vote 'can result in convention'

Mar 1 2013

Political parties should gather in a national convention to set out Scotland's future for the next decade in the event of a No vote for independence, Labour's shadow foreign secretary has suggested.

A "Scotland 2025" convention would include politicians and members of civic society to consider the country's economic, social and cultural priorities for the years ahead, according to Douglas Alexander.

Mr Alexander will use a speech in Edinburgh on Friday evening to set out his vision for such a convention, while warning that key issues are being overshadowed by a constitutional debate before next year's independence referendum.

He will attack the SNP's pro-independence campaign, arguing that the Nationalists are relying "on the implicit but spurious assertion not only that we as Scots are committed to social justice but that our friends, family and colleagues across the rest of the UK are not".

The speech, organised by the University of Edinburgh at its Playfair Library, comes on the anniversary of the 1979 referendum on devolution.

Mr Alexander will tell the audience that his proposed convention could "create a space for a new kind of politics".

He will say: "It could help change the way power is distributed and shared. And it could genuinely help put people in charge of writing the next chapter of Scotland's story. It could make sure that the debate that the next 19 months will bring is not lost. And rather than pretending politicians have all the answers, it could engage the people of Scotland in deliberating together a new vision for an old nation."

He will say: "Undoubtedly the clear majority of Scots, myself included, want change but we do not see independence as the route to achieve the changes we want to see."

The debate is taking place between "the settled will of the SNP" for independence and the "sovereign will of the Scottish people" whose views have been expressed in opinion polls. Support for independence hovers at around one third but Scottish Labour "does not doubt that the country wants change".

Mr Alexander will repeat his calls for a new consideration of the balance of powers between Holyrood and Westminster before interim findings of Labour's devolution commission are published next month. The commission was announced in March last year to examine further powers for the Scottish Parliament.