House of Scots Lords touted as part of devolution
Archives reveal a second chamber was considered and Harold Wilson thought Scotland ‘a bit frightening’ as he paved the way for 1979 vote, writes Hannah Rodger
ORIGINAL plans for devolution to Scotland included a House of Lords and single-party rule from Westminster, newly released documents have revealed.
Papers unsealed from the National Archives today show discussions between Harold Wilson, then prime minister, and his closest advisors around the implementation of devolution to Scotland and Wales, and how the Labour PM thought Scotland was “a bit frightening”.
The documents dating from 1974 and 1975, before the devolution referendum of 1979, discuss the establishment of a new constitution unit in Whitehall tasked with researching and preparing to set up Scottish and Welsh assemblies.
They detail the need to find “new accommodation” for the unit as well as hiring 24 staff to work on it, alongside other issues such as Lords reform and membership of what was then called the European Economic Community.
One letter, to then Cabinet Secretary John Hunt, describes the need to determine how elections to new assemblies would be handled, and considers making voting compulsory while suggesting banning opinion polls from being published 10 days before elections.
Mr Hunt also suggested there could be a Lords-style second chamber for scrutiny of legislation in Scotland and Wales and explained that the idea of proportional representation, the electoral system currently operating in Holyrood, had been ruled out.
He wrote: “Now that the
Government have decided against proportional representation for elections to the Scottish and Welsh assemblies, so that continuing one-party government becomes a real possibility, the case for unicameral assemblies is weakened and a reformed House of Lords at Westminster, with a new composition and perhaps new powers, could prove to be something which might be repeated in Scotland and Wales.”
The archive material also details discussions of which powers would go to Scotland in the event of devolution being enacted.
In August 1974, Harold Wilson was told by Minister of State Lord Crowther-hunt that ministers had to consider “whether the Scottish and Welsh assemblies should have any executive powers in the trade, industry and employment fields” but adds: “Clearly, the Scottish Parliament could not have legislative power in these fields.”
The constitution unit was formed in 1975, following Prime Minister Wilson’s manifesto pledge of 1974 to give more powers to Scotland and Wales.
Despite the internal efforts within Whitehall, ministers were of two minds on how quickly devolution should be implemented.
Documents from the time also show that some MPS wanted to take a “go slow” approach to giving more powers to Scotland and Wales.
Among them were Home Secretary Roy Jenkins, Energy Secretary Tony Benn and Foreign Secretary Anthony Crosland.
An inquiry was launched into leaks
to The Herald, Scotsman and Times where sources said a high-level ministerial meeting on devolution at Chequers had been “a fiasco” and cited several ministers suggesting there should not be any rush to proceed with the plans.
Leading the probe was Sir Phillip Allen, a former permanent undersecretary of state at the Home Office, who was, apparently, paid £134 for his services during the inquiry.
After a lengthy investigation, government officials came to the conclusion that there were likely two sources of the leaks, but were unable to categorically say who they were.
Strong suspicions initially pointed at then-labour MP Jim Sillars and his Labour colleague Harry Ewing, a junior Scotland Office minister – though both denied it.
Mr Allen’s final report stated: “I’m afraid that I have not solved the mystery of the Scotsman article. As you will see, I don’t think Ewing was responsible. It is worth bearing in mind that Ewing and Sillars are not drinkers (or so I believe) and do not frequent the bar, and that Sillars is not a member of the Scottish Executive.”
Mr Ewing and Mr Sillars had shared a flat together in London, which was frowned upon by officials as they were concerned Mr Ewing may inadvertently share confidential information with Mr Sillars, a backbencher.
Discussing this at the time, a civil servant told Mr Hunt: “[Mr Ewing] shared a house in London with Mr Sillars and Mr Alexander Eadie. He recognised that it was a natural assumption that he might have made some indiscreet disclosure to Mr Sillars but was sure that he had not.
“I did say that I thought that some people would think it unwise for ministers to share a house with a backbencher who was deeply interested in the problems which they had to deal with as ministers, and that I wondered how in practice he and Mr Sillars could all the time keep off conversation in the course of which he might inadvertently let fall some official information; but he said that he took great care not to do this and, further, that even if he had let something drop Mr Sillars was a responsible and honourable man who would not misuse it.
“I still think that the arrangement of sharing a house may not be very wise, but how far is it right to go interfering with the domestic arrangements of ministers, I don’t know.”
Prime Minister Wilson said, after reading a summary of devolution plans in 1975 that “Scotland is a bit frightening” and he was concerned “that we would have strong opposition and perhaps majority opposition in Cabinet to it”.
The summary plans in 1975 included granting a Scottish parliament “powers of short-term borrowing and would control long-term borrowing for devolved services within an overall limit set by the United Kingdom authorities.”
These borrowing powers were only fully granted to Scotland in 2016, more than 35 years later.
Despite the efforts of the Wilson and Callaghan Labour government, a referendum on the issue failed to deliver devolution in Scotland.
When voters took to the polls, on March 19, 1979, in Wales they rejected a devolved assembly while a majority of those who turned out in Scotland voted in favour. However, although 51.6 per cent voted for devolved powers, a 64% turnout meant that only 32.9% of the Scottish registered electorate had supported it. The Scotland Act 1978 stated that a minimum of 40% of the electorate had to vote Yes in order for the plan to progress, and so it failed.
They considered making voting compulsory and suggested banning opinion polls 10 days before voting