‘We’ll give you more powers AND more cash than England’: Desperate Cameron, Clegg and Miliband in last-ditch bribe to Scotland (but a parliament for the English is ruled OUT)
By TOM MCTAGUE, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR FOR MAILONLINE
- Three UK party leaders agree a joint declaration on more Scottish powers
- Pledge to keep ‘Barnett Formula’ handing more cash to Scots than English
- But the PM says we are not ‘remotely at that stage’ for an English parliament
- Double blow for England will infuriate Conservative backbenchers
- There is a growing campaign to ban Scottish MPs voting on English laws
- Prominent backbencher Bernard Jenkin calls for bar on Scottish Chancellors
The three Westminster party leaders agreed a joint declaration that the Scottish Parliament will be given sweeping new powers over tax, benefits and health.
But Scotland will still keep its ‘Barnett formula’ funding deal which transfers more cash to Scotland than England.
The dramatic offer risks causing anger in England at the suggestion that Scotland will continue to get preferential treatment.
Pledge: This ‘vow’ was featured on the front page of the Daily Record today
It came after Mr Cameron issued his final, emotional plea to Scots to reject independence, warning it would lead to a permanent ‘painful divorce’.
In a reference to his own unpopularity, and attempts by Mr Salmond to use ousting the Tory-led government as a rallying cry for independence, Mr Cameron said: ‘Please, don’t mix up the temporary and the permanent.
‘Don’t think: I’m frustrated with politics right now, so I’ll walk out the door and never come back.
‘If you don’t like me – I won’t be here forever. If you don’t like this Government – it won’t last forever. But if you leave the UK – that will be forever,’ he said in a speech in Aberdeen last night.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon hit back at David Cameron’s emotional appeal, saying that Scotland would not leave the British Isles’ ‘family of nations’.
She said: ‘Those ties are not about politics, those ties are about people.
‘I’m the granddaughter of an Englishwoman, I have family in England. We’re going to continue to be part of the family of nations that make up the British Isles.
‘We will work closely and co-operatively with our friends across these islands but we’ll do so on the basis of equality, we’ll do so knowing that we’re responsible for the decisions that shape our future, that we’re responsible for our own money as a country and we can decide the priorities for spending that money.’
Snack: Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tried out a Yes cupcake while campaigning today
Tasty: The cupcake was decorated with a heart and the word ‘Yes’
Despite the offer of more powers for Scotland, Mr Cameron has flatly rejected mounting calls for an ‘English parliament’ to be set up to decide English laws and taxes.
The Prime Minister said the country was ‘not remotely at that stage’, despite a growing backbench campaign by Tory MPs to ban Scottish MPs from voting on laws that would only effect England.
Bernard Jenkin, the Conservative chairman of the respected Commons Public Accounts Committee, said there should never again be a Scottish Chancellor deciding how much tax the English should pay.
He said: ‘The idea of ‘English votes for English laws’ was the basis for the 2010 Conservative manifesto.’
Mr Jenkin said an English parliament could be set up within the Commons, by agreeing to stop Scottish MPs voting on English-only matters.
He said: ‘There would, however, be consequences for Whitehall. We could never have a Scottish UK chancellor setting English taxes in England at the annual budget but not in his or her own constituency.
‘So Parliament will have to consider how to establish an English executive, with an English first minister and finance minister, along with England-only departments for matters such as health, education and local government, made accountable to English MPs alone.’
In the joint declaration to Scottish voters today – published in the Daily Record – the three Westminster party leaders pledged to work together to transfer more powers to Holyrood if Scots reject independence on Thursday.
The Prime Minister, his Lib Dem deputy and the Labour leader also promise to ensure that no one other than the Scottish Parliament can cut vital public services such as the NHS.
The agreement was brokered by former prime minister Gordon Brown and Scottish Labour.
Mr Brown has already outlined a fast-tracked timetable for transferring more powers from Westminster to Holyrood if Scots vote No.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg (left) and Commons leader William Hague (right) arrived at Downing Street today for a meeting of the Cabinet
The ex Labour leader hailed the pledge to protect higher levels of funding for the Scots than England.
Alex Salmond had claimed the formula for calculating Scotland’s budget could be changed to leave Scots with less money for public services.
But the joint pledge states: ‘Because of the continuation of the Barnett allocation for resources, and the powers of the Scottish Parliament to raise revenue, we can state categorically that the final say on how much is spent on the NHS will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.’
Last night, Mr Brown said Scots wanted to know that ‘a No vote does not mean no change’. He said the declaration was a ‘guarantee of change’.
‘They want a promise of change they can trust – without the risks and uncertainties of an irreversible separation.
‘I believe they are saying to us, ‘Give us the guarantees of change and with these guarantees, we can vote for a strong Scottish Parliament within the UK’.’
Mr Cameron, speaking last night on Newsnight, said: ‘For people in Scotland to know that if they vote No, they’re voting for more change, voting for more devolution.
‘That will be put in place more say, over tax rates, over spending, over parts of welfare. I think that’s very important. That’s what’s on the table.’
Labour’s shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander told BBC Breakfast said voters in Scotland had been talking about these powers ‘for many months’.
He said: ‘What we’re saying today on the front page of the Daily Record is that we can have the best of both worlds. We can have a stronger Scottish Parliament but with the strength, stability and security of the United Kingdom.’
In today’s letter, the party leaders say they agree that ‘the UK exists to ensure opportunity and security for all by sharing our resources equitably across all four nations’.
They state that the final say on funding for the NHS will be a matter for the Scottish Government ‘because of the continuation of the Barnett allocation for resources, and the powers of the Scottish Parliament to raise revenue’.
A spokesman for Yes Scotland said: ‘It’s clear that project panic is willing to say anything in the last few days of the campaign to try to halt the Yes momentum – anything except what new powers, if any, they might be willing to offer.
‘The reality is that the only way to guarantee Scotland gets all the powers we need to create jobs and protect our NHS is with a Yes vote on Thursday – so that we can use our enormous wealth to create a better and fairer country.’
‘I won’t be here forever… please don’t break this family apart’: Emotional Cameron issues final plea to Scots to save the United Kingdom from a permanent ‘painful divorce’
By MATT CHORLEY, POLITICAL EDITOR FOR MAILONLINE
David Cameron last night begged Scots not to rip the United Kingdom apart in a ‘painful divorce’, as he bluntly told his enemies he would not be Prime Minister forever.
He appeared teary-eyed as he issued his most emotional plea yet to voters ahead of Thursday’s historic referendum: ‘Please don’t break this family apart.’
Making his tenth and final visit to Scotland ahead of polling day, the Prime Minister’s voice cracked as he told an audience in Aberdeen how preserving the Union is ‘the best hope for your family in this world’.
Mr Cameron’s desperate plea came after an opinion suggested a majority of voters in Scotland, and across the UK, think that since agreeing to Alex Salmond’s demand for a yes/no vote, Mr Cameron has handled the campaign ‘badly’.
Emotional: Prime Minister David Cameron appeared teary-eyed as he delivered his final plea to Scots not to ‘rip’ Scotland out of the family of the united Kingdom
Mr Cameron flew to a drizzly Aberdeen as opinion polls continued to show the battle to save the Union is too close to call.
Making repeated references to ‘family’ and safety, he said that if voters have any doubts about the impact of independence on their loved ones, they should vote No.
He stressed that as Prime Minister he had a ‘duty’ to be clear about the gravity and ‘consequences’ of choosing to end the 300-year-old union.
Mr Cameron said: ‘So this is our message to the people of Scotland…We want you to stay. Head and heart and soul, we want you to stay.’
In a reference to his own unpopularity, and attempts by Mr Salmond to use ousting the Tory-led government as a rallying cry for independence, Mr Cameron added: ‘Please, don’t mix up the temporary and the permanent.
‘Don’t think: I’m frustrated with politics right now, so I’ll walk out the door and never come back.
‘If you don’t like me – I won’t be here forever. If you don’t like this Government – it won’t last forever. But if you leave the UK – that will be forever.’
Invoking penicillin pioneer Alexander Fleming, philosopher David Hume, author JK Rowling and tennis champion Andy Murray, Mr Cameron declared: ‘It’s only become Great Britain because of the greatness of Scotland.’
He added: ‘For the people of Scotland to walk away now would be like painstakingly building a home – and then walking out the door and throwing away the keys.’
Mr Cameron, who appeared visibly emotional, is under pressure to deliver a No vote or face going down in history as the Prime Minister who oversaw the break-up of the Union
Speaking to Tory activists in Aberdeen, Mr Cameron urged voters not to use the referendum to send a message to the Conservative government, insisting: ‘I won’t be here forever’
AS CAMERON SPOKE, OBAMA AND NATO WARN OF ‘YES’ VOTE RISKS
Barack Obama does not want Scotland to break up
Barack Obama tonight urged Scottish voters not to break apart ‘one of the closest allies we’ll ever have’ by voting for independence on Thursday.
The dramatic intervention, just three days before Scotland goes to the polls, will infuriate Alex Salmond – with the battle for independence set to be decided by the smallest of margins.
Up to half a million voters remain undecided – with concerns over the future of Scotland’s place in major international organisations like the EU, Nato and the UN still hotly debated.
Mr Obama’s spokesman Josh Earnest said: ‘From the outside, the United States has a deep interest in ensuring that one of the closest allies we’ll ever have remains strong, robust, united and an effective partner of the United States.’
The remarks came after Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen confirmed Scotland would have to reapply to join the military alliance – and stressed that to do every members would have to agree.
He said: ‘In case that Scotland voted in favour of independence then Scotland would have to apply for membership of Nato as a new independent state. A decision on accession would have to be taken by unanimity, by consensus as always in Nato.’
Details of a YouGov survey show that 72 per cent of people in Scotland think Mr Cameron has handled the referendum campaign badly, compared to 59 per cent who think Alex Salmond has performed well.
Across the UK as a whole, half of people think Mr Cameron has done badly, compared to just a third who said the same about Mr Salmond.
As senior figures on both sides stepped up campaigning at the weekend, Mr Cameron was photographed at a society wedding in Hampshire on Saturday.
But he returned to the campaign trail with a stark warning of the grim finality of independence.
He said: ‘Independence would not be a trial separation, it would be a painful divorce.’
He said it would mean the end of a shared currency, the armed forces split up and pension funds broken apart.
‘It would mean the borders we have would become international and may no longer be so easily crossed.’
Mr Salmond’s plans for independence were not a positive vision but risked seeing the people of Scotland ‘sold a dream that disappears’.
He added: ‘It’s about dividing people, closing doors, making foreigners of our friends and family.’
‘So as you reach your final decision, please… please… don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t be a proud Scot and a proud Brit.
‘Don’t lose faith in what this country is – and what we can be. Don’t forget what a great United Kingdom you are part of.
‘Don’t turn your backs on what is the best family of nations in the world and the best hope for your family in this world.
‘So please, from all of us: Vote to stick together… Vote to stay, vote to save our United Kingdom.’
It follows new warnings about the economic impact of independence, with the respected Centre for Policy Studies think tank warning of a £14billion blackhole if Scotland goes it alone.
In an escalation of the war of words between the two camps, Mr Salmond today claimed the Prime Minister’s ‘fingerprints are all over a scaremongering’ campaign being orchestrated by Unionists.
Dozens of major firms including BP, Asda, John Lewis, Vodafone, RBS, Lloyds and B&Q have issued warnings that independence could hit jobs and investment and put up prices.
But Mr Salmond insisted the interventions by banks, telecoms companies, retailers and oil giants were being co-ordinated by Downing Street to frighten voters.
Speaking during a pro-business event at Edinburgh airport, Mr Salmond said: ‘When you try to pressurise people, pressurise companies, as the Prime Minister has undoubtedly been doing and indeed the Treasury, then that’s a different circumstance.
‘I think people in Scotland will know the Prime Minister’s fingerprints are all over the scaremongering campaign and the Treasury’s fingerprints are all over the bank campaign.’
The YouGov survey shows that among people in Scotland, 72 per cent think Mr Cameron has performed badly
Across the UK as a whole, half of those surveyed also said Mr Cameron had done badly during the campaign
But Mr Cameron hit back in his speech: ‘To warn of the consequences is not to scare-monger.
‘It is like warning a friend about a decision they might take that will affect the rest of their lives – and the lives of their children.
‘I say all this because I don’t want the people of Scotland to be sold a dream that disappears.’
Mr Cameron reiterated his support for greater devolution to Scotland if voters reject independence.
The Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh is promised control of new powers over tax, spending and welfare services, with legislation drawn up by January.
‘You don’t get the change you want by ripping your country apart’, Mr Cameron said.
He said he would be ‘utterly heart-broken to wake up on Friday morning to the end of the country we love’.
It would mean no UK pensions, no UK passports, no UK pound, he said. ‘The United Kingdom would be no more.’
He repeatedly referred to how English, Welsh, Northern Irish and Scottish have lived, worked, celebrated, fought and died together.
No campaign fury over secret NHS cuts as Charles Kennedy makes bid to be Union’s unlikely saviour
Charles Kennedy and Danny Alexander today hit out at Alex Salmond for suggesting that Scottish independence could save the NHS.
The two Liberal Democrat heavyweights pointed to a secret report warning that Scottish health services face £400million of cuts as proof that the NHS is not safe in the SNP’s hands.
Their intervention came as Mr Kennedy, the former party leader, was being promoted as an unlikely last-minute saviour of the Union.
The Lib Dems unveiled a new campaign poster with a huge picture of Mr Kennedy on the side, leading him to say ‘they’re keeping the best till last’.
Billboard: The Liberal Democrats today sought to put forward Charles Kennedy as a ‘big beast’ of the Union campaign; Mr Kennedy is pictured alongside Danny Alexander, Jo Swinson and Willie Rennie
Mr Salmond has repeatedly insisted that the NHS in Scotland will be subjected to increasing privatisation if the UK stays together.
But at a campaign event in Glasgow today, Mr Kennedy reminded voters that the NHS, BBC and pound had been created using the resources of the whole of Britain.
‘These achievements were built without borders, and to put down artificial borders in the 21st century is absurd,’ he said.
‘The SNP ran up the flag of fear, saying that if you vote No you would be complicit in bringing about the break-up of the NHS.
‘But ministers have been sitting on a report warning of a £400million shortfall in the NHS in Scotland.’
Mr Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, added: ‘The big news on the NHS is the £400million of cuts.
‘We know that a Yes vote would mean deep cuts to public services, year after year after year.’
The use of Mr Kennedy on the new poster suggests that the ex-leader, who was forced to resign in 2006 after struggling with a drinking problem, is being set up as a ‘big beast’ who can tackle the charismatic Alex Salmond in the run-up to Thursday’s vote.
‘Maybe they’re keeping the best till last, you never know,’ he said today – after pointedly describing himself as a member of the ‘Scottish Liberal Democrats’.
Mr Alexander added: ‘Charles is one of the most respected political figures here in Scotland.
‘It’s very important that people hear from Charles Kennedy and the Liberal Democrats.’
Junior minister Jo Swinson, the MP for East Dunbartonshire, said: ‘Charles is a fantastic asset. He’s well-loved – he absolutely the right person to be the Liberal Democrat representative.’