Meeting of the Parliament 07 November 2019
Coming from a Government that spent the first 18 months of this parliamentary session debating Brexit, that is a bit rich.
In principle, a bill covering referendum legislation might be appropriate. However, it is clear to us on the Conservative benches that this bill is simply a vehicle for the Government to hold a second independence referendum and, for its own purposes, to frame it in the most favourable means possible. Even Mr Russell admitted that to the Finance and Constitution Committee, when he said:
“We have never hidden the fact that I see this bill being used by the Parliament and the Government to create the referendum for independence.”—[Official Report, Finance and Constitution Committee, 25 September 2019; c 4.]
However, putting that fact to one side, it is clear from today’s debate that, if the bill is to pass, many issues will need to be addressed at stage 2.
We see the bill for what it is and we will not vote for it today. However, if it passes stage 1, we will work where we can to make sure that the bill puts power in the hands of Parliament and not ministers.
The Law Society of Scotland said that
“we were concerned that the Bill will have the effect of reducing the time for Parliamentary or public scrutiny of a future proposal for a referendum”
and that
“as currently drafted there is no requirement for Parliamentary or public consultation and draft regulations would not be amendable or be subject to the level of scrutiny and accountability which should be applied to important or constitutional questions.”
That is an understated but breathtaking criticism of the bill from a respected organisation, which further reinforces the impression that the Government is attempting to bypass Parliament.
I looked in vain for a provision in the bill that states that the Government will respect the result of referendums. There was no sign of that in the bill. I wonder why? The ultimate irony is that the Government is putting through legislation on referendums, when it has ignored the results of two referendums held in this country in the past five years.
There are other concerns with the bill, about which I will go into detail; they have also been touched on by other members. I commend the Finance and Constitution Committee and its convener, Bruce Crawford, for the committee report and for his typically measured speech. As members have noted, the bill is faulty. The Institute for Government said that, as it stands, the bill would
“undermine the legitimacy of any referendum.”
That is a damning indictment. Specifically, the institute noted that the lack of a requirement for the Electoral Commission to test a previously used referendum question is one of many reasons why the bill could have that effect. The bill diverges from precedent on that, because in every UK referendum since the creation of the Electoral Commission, it has tested the proposed question to ensure that it is comprehensible to voters and will not bias the outcome.
The Finance and Constitution Committee report states that
“the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance use the Electoral Commission’s process for question testing as an example of good practice”
and that
“the Independent Commission on Referendums, through the role of the Electoral Commission, has one of the most rigorous processes for assessing referendum questions.”
My question to the cabinet secretary, in all sincerity, is this: what is he so fearful of? The Electoral Commission is an independent organisation that will test the question. It gives me and my Conservative colleagues significant cause for concern over why that provision exists in the bill in the first place. We feel that the bill must be rectified to ensure that there is no partisan bias in setting such a question.
Like others, I am also concerned about the extensive powers that the bill affords to ministers and its attempt to reduce Parliament’s role in scrutinising future referenda. The point has been made forcibly by others, but the question of primary legislation is incredibly important. The bill states that actions to set referendums should be carried out by secondary legislation. The Finance and Constitution Committee report quotes the cabinet secretary attempting to justify that by arguing that
“we should not see all referenda as the same”.
How can that be accepted? I do not accept it and nor, it appears, did the Finance and Constitution Committee, which states that, in terms of constitutional issues, referendums must require primary legislation and that all other referendums will ordinarily require primary legislation.
It is clear to Conservative members that the bill is simply an attempt by the Government to initiate a referendum on independence. It is a clear attempt to ram that through with no oversight or scrutiny and to give ministers the means to mould the question in the way that best suits their desired outcome. We will play no part in that today and I urge others to do likewise.
16:23