‘Home Rule’

Brown promises ‘a modern form of Home Rule’ in Scotland if voters choose No:

Labour since Keir Hardie has been the Party of Home Rule for Scotland within the United Kingdom so the plan for a stronger Scottish Parliament we seek agreement on is for nothing else than a modern form of Scottish Home Rule within the United Kingdom.

The plan is to devolve powers over borrowing, the work program, housing benefit, land use and income tax. Brown says an accelerated timetable envisages the ‘starting gun’ being fired on the process within a day of a No vote the referendum, a paper published by the coalition government in October, an agreement by November, and a new Scotland Bill in January:

Quite simply, Scottish voters deserve to know to the fullest extent possible about how new powers as ambitious as possible will be delivered as soon as possible within the UK. And so we are demanding a tight-timetable with tough deadlines and streamlined procedures.