Achi news desk-
Giving evidence at the Scottish Affairs Committee in Westminster as part of the inquiry into intergovernmental relations, Mr McLeish said: “Perhaps he has lulled us into a false sense that this is how it was always going to be.”
He said in the years since former prime minister Boris Johnson took office in 2019 there had been “a lack of respect for the potential devolution payments”, and he described a “pending battle” between unionism and nationalism.
The former Scottish Labor leader recalled being able to pick up the phone to Mr Blair or Mr Cook during difficult situations, and said: “That level of networking was absolutely solid in developing devolution in Scotland.”
READ MORE: John Swinney becomes Scotland’s seventh First Minister
Mr McLeish said “disrespect” from prime ministers including Boris Johnson, Lis Truss and Rishi Sunak was “costing Scotland”, and described the political environment as “unproductive”.
He added: “Arrogance within this House does devolution no good and it alienates people.”
Mr McLeish said from 2007 that the SNP had been “electorally successful” but that the country had “waited”, and added: “I think the relationship between Holyrood and Westminster has hit rock bottom.”
He said: “The country is more divided than it has been in 25 years and the issue of independence, in my opinion, is not going anywhere. There is an opportunity to reset about where the issue of devolution might be.
“My opinion is that we need some rules of the game now and we don’t have any. If I am a former politician and see a matter of public policy end up in the Supreme Court, then democracy has failed. You need the rules of the game if players are behaving badly.”
Another former prime minister, Lord McConnell, who represented Scottish Labor and led Scotland between 2001 and 2007, said that the smoking ban was only accepted because of devolution, and described it as “the moment the Senate for age”.
Lord McConnell said: “The reason it happened successfully was because Scotland was making decisions for itself. The public decision was split about 50/50 but the people of Scotland accepted a decision they did not want because it was made by their elected representatives.”
He told the inquiry he believed civil servants should be doing two-year terms in the devolved countries and in London, and said the political landscape since 2015 had “lacked purpose” compared to its predecessors.
Lord McConnell added: “Whatever people think of various decisions by New Labor or the coalition, I think that period of government has a sense of purpose in trying to affect everyday lives and improve our country which is not has existed since 2015.
“We made sure those early years were very productive. I think my immediate successors had a strategy for having a Scottish Government that was seen to bring about good changes for Scotland as a way of campaigning for independence.”
READ MORE: Tories link Grangemouth stay on implementation to scrapping Bute House Agreement
Giving evidence, he said “the structure of intergovernmental relationships needs to change”, and praised New Labor leaders including David Blunkett and Charles Clarke for their enthusiasm and understanding of devolution.
Mr McConnell said: “I think there should be a rule that if you are in the civil service in the UK it should be mandatory that you spend two years in devolved government and the same in Scotland that you spend time in London .
“The structure of the intergovernmental relationship needs to change – understanding, information, people being able to talk to each other; have some sort of rules in place that mean people have the contacts and knowledge you get by sharing an office with someone.”
He said that the next First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, “would need to be honest about the problems Scotland faces, and “can’t produce jobs with fancy headlines or slogans”.
Mr McConnell said: “There were some Scottish MPs who were unhappy with the smoking ban but that didn’t stop it happening. What is sad I think is that, over time, the new generations of politicians have not had that personal experience which enables them to understand what is happening in other places.”
Asked to give advice to Mr Swinney, he said: “As Scotland’s first minister, people don’t want you to let them down.”
