Blair renews promise of Scottish, Welsh assemblies

THE Labour leader, Mr Tony Blair, pledged last night to give "power to the people" as part of his plans for wide ranging constitutional…

THE Labour leader, Mr Tony Blair, pledged last night to give "power to the people" as part of his plans for wide ranging constitutional reforms for Britain.

After reaffirming Labour's plans for a tax raising Scottish parliament and a Welsh assembly, Mr Blair attacked the government's contradictory stance over devolution by advocating it for Northern Ireland yet rigidly opposing it for Scotland.

In a keynote address at the John Smith Memorial Lecture in London, Mr Blair described his vision for the future of Britain with an enhanced economy, a society that is one nation.

"New Labour wants to give power to the people. To be a government working in partnership with the people, which gives them freedom, choice and responsibility and where the country is more united, more open and more confident about the future than it has been in decades.

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"I find it odd to say the least that the government proposes devolution for Northern Ireland as part of a package designed to keep the Union together but says that devolution anywhere else is irresponsible and reckless. The truth is that the changes we propose will strength the Union by creating a new partnership between government and the people in those areas which demand more power," he said.

After pointing out that several former Tory ministers had in the past supported Scottish devolution, Mr Blair attacked the government's present campaign, which claims a Scottish parliament would mean a rise in tax, as one of the most "dishonest" the "Tory lie machine" has yet run.

Under a Labour government, Mr Blair pledged to reform the House of Lords, introduce Freedom of Information Act, create a new London authority and hold a referendum on electoral reform.

Mr Blair predicted that the British people faced the choice of two different futures. Under a Conservative Government the nation would be "split in two" with wealthy areas becoming private fortresses "turned against the world outside". Or the Labour party's vision of Britain as one nation.

"These reforms would contribute to the health of our democracy. They would tackle the culture of secrecy, enshrine in British law people's legal rights, give us a reformed parliament which could operate more effectively as a modern legislature and allow the people to decide how the Commons was elected," he said.

However, in a fierce rebuff, the Conservative party chairman Dr Brian Mawhinney, said Labour's reforms would "rip apart" Britain causing "chaos and division" and pledged that the Tories would "fight tooth and nail" to protect the country's constitution.

"There is no appetite across the nation for Labour's constitutional agenda. Radical change to Britain's constitution may be all the rage at Islington dinner parties, but it is not the subject of debate in shopping queues or during half time at any football match in the country," he said.

PA adds:

In Scotland, Labour and the nationalists attacked Dr Mawhinney's speech as "arrogant and reactionary". The Scottish National Party leader, Mr Alex Salmond, said: "He denies Scots our nationhood, such is his arrogance. Mawhinney's one nation means no nation for Scotland."

The Shadow Scottish Secretary, Mr George Robertson, complained of a "Tory campaign of lies and hysteria".