Quote:
Originally Posted by Damien
I still believe it will happen. However the pubic pressure on the Government needs to happen right away and across the UK. Cameron, Miliband and Clegg all promised this would happen and there were no clauses given on those powers being transferred. English votes for English laws is a good idea but needs to happen separately from these powers being transferred if it's going to cause a problem. I think the consequences of not doing so would be pretty bad and include another referendum in just years.
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I admire your optimism Damien but the facts of the matter are that the three main party leaders (at least one of whom has form for pledge dishonesty) with no political mandate or legislative policy affording them the right to do so, supposedly "signed up to" a "pledge".
As far as I am aware there was no grand televised theatric public signing, no detail of exactly what they were pledging / vowing to do (ironic, given that their main criticism of the opponent campaign was that of uncertainty) and now we are seeing the splits appear in their own respective camps. I mentioned several times during the course of this thread the fact that the Edinburgh Agreement would require all of its signatories to debate, negotiate and agree everything after the outcome of the referendum no matter what the outcome. If I recall correctly you dismissed that as being largely irrelevant.
Given that position I'm surprised, to say the least, that you're now hoping to hold messrs Cameron, Clegg and Miliband to their word on the basis of what appears to be little more than a note scribbled in haste on the back of a fag packet and published on the front page of a newspaper in an attempt (successful at that) to make Scottish voters think they were being offered anything beyond that which they might achieve under any Edinburgh Agreement negotiations.
All things considered it was a master stroke on their part and people fell for it.
Where this might lead is anyones guess but certainly any trust that previously existed has been stretched beyond the pale.