FIRST MINISTER ON TORY MANDATE - 1987

Like many new Members I am engaged in moving home, and as I was clearing out some of my files I came
across some yellowing pages of newspaper cuttings from the period immediately before and after the general
election of 1983 in Scotland. In them, a number of Scottish Members of Parliament were making the case that
the rights of Scotland should be respected—a case with which I agree. They were called "Labour's new dogs
of war," and they included the hon. Members for Glasgow, Cathcart (Mr Maxton), for Carrick, Cumnock and
Doon Valley (Mr Foulkes), for East Lothian (Mr Home Robertson) and for Glasgow, Shettleston (Mr Marshall).
They argued that, by their efforts, they could impose the will of the Scottish people on the House and that they
would manage to extract for the Scottish people a measure of Scottish devolution. We are now four years on
and the dogs of war not only have not bitten very hard but have lost their bark.

I scrutinised with some interest the speech made by the hon. Member for Cathcart on Thursday, in which he
came up with the incredible proposition that the Conservative party has half a mandate in Scotland. His
argument was that the Conservative party has a mandate over such sectors as the economy and
United Kingdom matters, but does not have a mandate over specifically Scottish Office issues such
as education. It is an incredible argument that the Conservative party has the right to destroy the
Scottish economy but does not have the right to destroy the Scottish education system. It is not a
case of half a mandate. The Conservative party either has or has not a mandate in Scotland.
 Mr Alex Salmond MP (Banff and Buchan) , Hansard 29 June 1987

CURRENTLY ACTIVE ANTI-INDEPENDENCE POLITICIANS PLAYING MANDATE CARD

LABOUR

The power of the unions saw the Labour Party in Scotland's flagship policy for a Scottish parliament elected
by proportional representation approved in the face of mild opposition at the rally-style 77th conference in
Edinburgh...
...Ms Johann Lamont, moving for the executive, defended the Scottish Labour PR plan … On the need for a
Scottish parliament she said: "You only need to look around at the devastation the Tories have created
to know we need change."
 Johann Lamont, Herald, March 14, 1992

"In the past we have had alien practices imposed on Scottish education from Westminster. We were
used as an experiment for the poll tax. That could not happen under a Scottish Parliament, which will be
sensitive to the needs and the will of a Scottish people."
 Chancellor Gordon Brown, Daily Record, 11thSeptember 1997

"Scotland is one of the clearest examples of remote government in need of and ready for reform - power that
is over-centralised, over -bureaucratic, often insensitive and out of touch, as the poll tax, which was
introduced first in Scotland, so clearly demonstrated.
"Education, health, social services, transport and housing are concerns that affect lives of Scots on a daily
basis and need full-time scrutiny. We see government not just as accessible in theory but government as a
practical expression of people's will."
 Chancellor Gordon Brown, Herald, 10thSeptember 1997

"This is a debate that has gone on for many, many years and at the end the decision has to be taken. People
remember the poll tax, experimented with here first in spite of the fact that no-one wanted it. A
situation like that should never happen again. It is not democratic. It is not right.
"If people want to change, they should decide, but what should not happen is that it is imposed from the
centre."
 Prime Minister, Tony Blair, Herald, 9th September 1997

"Her [Margaret Thatcher's] visit this week has reminded Scots that she imposed taxes - especially the poll
tax - with an English majority in the Commons, when most Scots were against them."
 Prime Minister John Prescott, Daily Record, 10th September 1997
“I would issue a public warning to Conservative Members from England, whose votes will be required
to get the Scottish and Welsh Bills through the House against the majority votes of hon. Members
representing both countries.”
 George Robertson (MP for Hamilton), Hansard , 22nd November 1993 when Shadow Secretary
of State for Scotland

“It is only a matter of months since the Conservative party in Scotland was whittled down to a meagre 10
Members of Parliament out of 72. I suppose, therefore, that it is scarcely surprising that the Government want
to spare themselves the further humiliation that stems from Scottish Question Time once a month. As my hon.
Friend the Member for Linlithgow (Mr Dalyell) said, it was clear from the fact that even the Prime Minister
participated in this business that it was an exercise designed to rob the Scottish people of the brief
period of accountability when Ministers come before the elected representatives of the people.”
 George Robertson (MP for Hamilton), Hansard , 10th November 1987when Shadow Secretary for
Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs

“Today, on the anniversary of the 97%. bloody nose that people gave the Secretary of State for Scotland in
the Strathclyde referendum, will he recognise that his quangoisation will transform Scotland's water, which is
among the safest, cleanest and cheapest in the world, into among the most expensive in Europe? Why does
he not recognise the folly of his arrogant refusal to listen to the people of Scotland and abandon that
plan now?”
 George Robertson (MP for Hamilton), Hansard , 22nd March 1995 when Shadow Secretary of
State for Scotland

“I accept the constitutional mandate of the Government to govern the United Kingdom, because I accept the
unity of the United Kingdom. However, people's lives are rarely ruled by the dry, dusty pages of
constitutional textbooks. Their perceptions, feelings and support are far more firmly rooted in the
reality of their everyday lives and, in particular, on whether they perceive that they are governed in a
manner that is responsive to their needs and consistent with their priorities and aspirations. By that
standard only a fool would claim— and the Secretary of State for Scotland, whatever else he may be,
is no fool—that the Government have either a political or moral mandate to govern Scotland in the
way in which they have been governing that sorry country.”
 John Reid (MP for Motherwell, North), Hansard, 27th January 1988. He was Secretary of State for
Scotland from 17th May 1999 to 25th January 2001

“Will the Secretary of State take this opportunity to end once and for all the speculation regarding the future of
Ravenscraig? Is he aware of the feelings of the people in Scotland? Unlike some of the synthetic Scots
who are sitting on the Conservative Benches, is he not aware that Ravenscraig has become a political
as well as an industrial symbol?”
 John Reid (MP for Motherwell, North), Hansard, 22nd July 1987. He was Secretary of State for
Scotland from 17th May 1999 to 25th January 2001

“Does the Secretary of State recall that the superficial negotiations that took place with COSLA over rate
support grant led to a one-and-a-half hour debate in the House and that the decision then taken has an input
and influence upon every family and household in Scotland? Is that accountability? Why does the Secretary of
State not adhere to his personal views on these matters? Why does he not honour Lord Home's intervention
in the referendum and, above all, why does he not respect the overwhelming view of the people of
Scotland as expressed on 11 June? “
 Tom Clarke (MP for Monklands West), Hansard, 22nd July 1987. He was Shadow Secretary of
State for Scotland from 18th July 1992 to 12th October 1993

“The Under-Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Eastwood (Mr Stewart), must know that they won 11 out
of 72 seats in Scotland and that they have a mere 16% of support, according to the opinion polls, among the
people of Scotland—hardly a mandate to do anything in Scotland, far less to impose this nonsense
upon us.”
 Tom Clarke (MP for Monklands West), Hansard, 14th July 1993 when Shadow Secretary of State
for Scotland on the Local Government and Water (Scotland) Bill

“Does the Minister agree that it would be extraordinary if, with a majority of 180 in England and Wales,
the Government were frit to introduce the poll tax in England and Wales this side of the next general
election, but, with a minority of 62 in Scotland, decided to proceed with it in advance of that date,
despite the humiliation that they suffered in Scotland on 11 June?”
 Brian Wilson (MP for Cunninghame North), Hansard, 22nd July 1987. Appointed a business
ambassador for the UK government by Michael Moore
 “I know that deep down the Secretary of State for Scotland also supports a Scottish Assembly. Therefore, will
he now show that he has some conviction, some guts and some sincerity and give some indication that at the
very least he will set up some sort of group to examine the possibility of a Scottish Assembly in
accordance with the wishes of the people of Scotland?”
 George Foulkes (MP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley), Hansard, 22nd July 1987. Now Lord
Foulkes and former Labour MSP (2007-11)

“Instead of talking about personalities and the few people who make a difference, will he instead talk about
the subject of today's debate which is about the lack of democracy in Scotland, the fact that the
positions of power in Scotland are given to adherents of the Government's politics and the fact that
they are, as it were, chosen by the Secretary of State, not by the people of Scotland?”
 Michael Connarty (MP for Falkirk East), Hansard, 7th February 1994. Currently Labour MP for
Linlithgow and Falkirk East

“Given that during the recent election campaign the Conservative party gave a commitment to enter into
discussions on the future government of Scotland if there was evidence of a demand for an Assembly, and
given that the Scottish electorate answered that question clearly—76% voted in favour of parties that
favoured devolution—will the right hon. and learned Gentleman advise the House when those discussions
will begin and what form they will take?”
 Frank Doran (MP for Aberdeen South), Hansard, 22nd July 1987. Currently Labour MP for
Aberdeen North

“The Government should not think that they can ride roughshod over the Scottish people, and if they
attempt to privatise or close Ravenscraig the wrath of the Scottish nation will be such as to make the miners'
strike of 1984–85 look like a picnic.”
 Jimmy Hood (MP for Clydesdale), Hansard, 8th July 1987. Currently MP for Lanark & Hamilton
East

“We are talking about the power that the Secretary of State cannot get through the ballot box in Scotland, so
he is taking it through Westminster and vesting it in St. Andrew's house. The powers of the regions will be
taken by a governing party which has only nine or 10 seats out of 72 in Scotland. That is not
democracy or decentralisation and that is not what we want in our democracy.”
 Jimmy Hood (MP for Clydesdale), Hansard, 17th January 1994. Currently MP for Lanark and
Hamilton East

“The hon. Gentleman clearly received a pocket calculator as a Christmas present and has only just
discovered how to use it. In view of his percentage calculations, would he like to comment on the fact that,
at the previous election, his party received about 25% of the vote and took 16% of the seats but 100%
of the power? What lesson can we learn from that?”
 Mike Watson (MP for Glasgow Central), Hansard, 7th February 1994. Now Lord Watson who sits
for Labour in the House of Lords after readmission

LIBDEMS

"Scotland's Parliament is Scotland's right. The parliament isn't for politicians, it's for Scotland and the
Scottish people. And I believe we can take this scheme to all parts of Scotland and win a Yes vote.
"This isn't simply to break with the past 18 years, when an unwanted Government foisted on us
unwanted policies.
"The Liberal Democrat perspective is much longer. Within our grasp is the fulfilment of the goal of a
generation of Scots - home rule and a democratic, social and cultural renewal of our nation."
 Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Jim Wallace, Daily Record, July 30, 1997. Now Advocate
General for Scotland in the Tory-LibDem Coalition government

"She [Margaret Thatcher] perpetrated one of the greatest crimes against democracy this century, by
imposing the poll tax on Scotland, wasting £1 billion in the process."
 Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Jim Wallace, Herald, September 10, 1997. Now Advocate
General for Scotland in the Tory-LibDem Coalition government
 “Our sense of identity has survived Tory governments who have tried to impose anglicised solutions to
Scottish problems. Tories believe Scots can't be trusted to run our own affairs.
“Well, Scotland has got rid of the Westminster Tories, but unless we get our Parliament, we could get
them back.
“A Scottish Parliament will make sure that Scotland is never again dominated by a minority
government - Tory, Labour or anyone else.”
 Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Jim Wallace, Daily Record, September 10, 1997. Now
Advocate General for Scotland in the Tory-LibDem Coalition government

“After the last election the Conservative party in Scotland had only 10 out of 72 seats. If in England the Labour
party had been unable to secure more than one seventh of the seats, there would never have been a Labour
Government. That qualitive difference is fundamental here. The Conservative party in Scotland has no
mandate, and it is no use pretending that it has.”
 Jim Wallace (MP for Orkney and Shetland), Hansard, 27th January 1988. Now Advocate General
for Scotland in the Tory-LibDem Coalition government

“... As one of only 10 Scottish Conservative Members out of 72, how does he justify his job as a Minister at the
Scottish Office imposing radical changes on the people of Scotland when they do not want and did not
vote for the changes? “
 Malcolm Bruce (MP for Gordon), Hansard, 23rd November 1987. Former Leader of the Scottish
Liberal Democrats - 3 March 1988 to 18 April 1992

“I repeat the word used by the hon. Member for Garscadden—to proceed with the legislation in the face of
the increasing evidence of the inequitable way in which the tax will operate, and the improper way in
which it will bear heavily upon the majority of the Scottish people...
“...The study to which the hon. Member for Garscadden referred, by Professor Gordon Hughes of the
university of Edinburgh's department of economics, makes it clear that the main burden of the poll tax will fall
on those with gross household incomes ranging from 70% to 150% of the average household income.
In other words, the bulk of the Scottish people will be cowering under the blows inflicted by this
insensitive and out-of-touch Government.”
 Robert MacLennan (MP for Caithness and Sutherland), Hansard, 13th May 1987. Former interim
leader of the UK LibDems

OTHERS
“The Secretary of State's Government have no mandate in my country and do riot speak for its people.
It is true that the Labour party does not speak for the entire country either. There are other parties that have
levels of political support in Scotland, but, taking us altogether, some 80% of the people of my country
have rejected the Government who none the less sit in governance over us in New St. Andrew's
House. If that is not a constitutional crisis, I do not know what is.
“It is not too late for the Secretary of State and the Government to hear the voices of anger from the Scottish
people. It is not too late to allow our people that for which they voted in the referendum in 1979 and at three
consecutive general elections—an assembly in Edinburgh dealing with Scottish affairs. The argument that
they have not demonstrated their desire for an assembly is so hollow that I cannot believe that someone of
the Secretary of State's intellect believes it. Almost 80% of the people of Scotland supported parties that
stood for some measure of Scottish devolution.”
 George Galloway (then Labour MP for Glasgow Hillhead), Hansard, 29 th June 1987. Currently
Respect MP for Bradford West

“The Scottish people decisively rejected the thieves' charter of privatisation just a few weeks ago.
Scottish Ministers have come here today buttressed by the motley crew of English placemen and
deracinated Scotsmen to ignore the salient points ... The question is this, Sir. When will those Ministers,
with the green acres stretched out behind them where their Scottish colleagues used to be, come to terms
with the fact that 78% of the Scottish people and 62 out of 72 Scottish Members of Parliament reject
them and everything that they stand for?”
 George Galloway (then Labour MP for Glasgow Hillhead), Hansard, 22 nd July 1987. Currently
Respect MP for Bradford West

"Why are the Tories suddenly showing such an interest in Scotland? Where were they when they were
shutting Fairfields, Linwood, John Brown's and Ravenscraig?"

 Labour supporter and Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson, Daily Record, 11th September
1997
 “We will NO LONGER tolerate unrepresentative government with alien policies like the poll tax.
“We will NOT be subject to the likes of a Tory government that was remote, insensitive and, ultimately,
discredited.
 Daily Record Editorial, July 25, 1997

INACTIVE LABOUR POLITICIANS PLAYING MANDATE CARD

However, local authorities are democratically elected, and in Scotland they have a far firmer mandate
on the wishes of the Scottish people than have the Government.
 Bruce Millan (MP for Glasgow Craigton), Hansard, 21st July 1981, when Shadow Secretary of
State for Scotland. He was Secretary of State for Scotland 1976–1979

What is more, we do not believe that the Government have a mandate for this policy in Scotland. They
did not have a mandate after the general election in Scotland, and the issue was ventilated again at
the district council elections last month. We all know the results of those. It is no use saying that the
district elections were about other matters. Of course they were, but they were also about the sale of council
houses. In the Daily Record the Conservatives inserted a full-page advertisement exhorting council house
tenants to stop paying rents, vote Conservative and buy their own homes, thus investing in a growing asset.
That advertisement was inserted on 1 May, the eve of the poll. The Conservatives introduced the matter
quite dramatically into the district election campaign and we all know the result—a massive and
shattering defeat for the Tories.
 Bruce Millan (MP for Glasgow Craigton), Hansard, 21st July 1981, when Shadow Secretary of
State for Scotland debating Restriction on Right to Buy in Districts with Insufficient Housing Starts.
He was Secretary of State for Scotland 1976–1979

When this Government put the poll tax up front in their election campaign, the Scottish people told
them what to do with it. It is an insult to democracy and to the people of Scotland to allow the poll tax
to continue. When she answered a question that I put to her last Thursday, the Prime Minister asked me
whether I was proud to be a Member of the United Kingdom Parliament. The implication was that the United
Kingdom Parliament passed the Bill and that therefore everything was all right, was it not? I am not proud to
be a Member of a United Kingdom Parliament when the Government so obviously ignore the democratic
wishes of a major nation that forms part of the United Kingdom. "The United Kingdom" means three or four
kingdoms that are united. Scotland is one of those kingdoms...
...If there was any democratic justice, if the Government had any regard for Scotland and the wishes
of the Scottish people, if they had any desire to have the wishes of the people of Scotland properly
represented, they would withdraw the tax immediately. Whether they continue with their plan in England and
Wales is up to them, but they have no mandate to continue with such an iniquitous tax in Scotland, and
they should withdraw it.
 John Maxton (MP for Glasgow Cathcart), Hansard, 13th July 1987

We must again put on record the arguments for devolution. The overwhelming one is that the majority of
Scottish people feel that they are not properly represented in the House, and do not get a fair deal
from this Parliament. When we have a Conservative Government in power with a tiny minority of hon.
Members in Scotland. Scottish people get policies that they do not want. We have to accept, even though
we are not separatists, that there is an element of Scottish nationalism in the debate...
...We do not have recognition of that on a democratic and political level. Scotland should be recognised as a
nation within the United Kingdom and part and parcel of the political scene. I think that the Secretary of State
used to believe in that...
...The Government have five Scottish Back Benchers who are opposed by 50 Labour Members, nine alliance
Members — or whatever they are called now —and three SNP Members. The Tory party is a very small
minority in Scotland. That is where the real constitutional question arises.
...The real pressure on our constitution is not the West Lothian question at some future assembly, but the fact
that the Secretary of State represents a rump of opinion in Scotland and forces upon the Scottish
people policies that they do not want—for example, in education, housing and local government, and with
the privatisation of the electricity industry and the poll tax. Nobody in Scotland wants those policies. The
people of Scotland have clearly rejected them.
Why should Scotland be governed by a Secretary of State—as the right hon. Member for Tweeddale, Ettrick
and Lauderdale said, more or less the Prime Minister of Scotland— who is not elected? Indeed, rather than
a Prime Minister, the right hon. and learned Gentleman is more like a governor-general...
...If the Secretary of State had any principles he would say to the Prime Minister, "I cannot govern
Scotland; I do not have sufficient Members of Parliament to do so. As a democrat, I am not prepared to
impose my will upon the Scottish people who do not want me and, therefore, if you want to keep the unity of
the United Kingdom, we must give Scotland a Scottish assembly." That is what a democrat would say.
 John Maxton (MP for Glasgow Cathcart), Hansard, 23rd November 1987

This Government no longer have a mandate to rule in Scotland...

...Constitutionally, there is not a Secretary of State for England, but there is a Secretary of State for Scotland.
When I say that there is no mandate I mean that the Secretary of State for Scotland has no mandate
on the matters with which he deals. I accept, although I do not like it, that with regard to defence, the
economy, the macro-economic position and immigration, the Government have a mandate to rule
Scotland, but for the affairs on which the Secretary of State has powers he and the Government have
no mandate. They are in an absurd constitutional position. They have 10 seats left out of 72. The
Government were wiped out and lost over half of their members. Even in the last Parliament they had
no mandate in Scotland, but, having lost over half of their members, not only do they have no
mandate; they are almost in a position where they are incapable of carrying out government in
Scotland in the normal, traditional way...
...The Government will have to think again positively about this matter over the next few weeks and months. It
cannot be put off, because like my Scottish colleagues I am constantly asked by the Scottish people,
"What have we done to deserve another bout of Thatcherism?" As I went through Glasgow airport the
other day two security people asked me that very question. These were people in employment. They
wanted to know how we could stop the Government imposing their will on the Scottish people...
...If there is any democratic morality left on the Conservative Benches, the Government should
withdraw the poll tax as soon as possible. If they want to impose it on the people of England and Wales,
they may take that electoral risk if they so wish. However, the Scottish people had the opportunity to vote
on it and they rejected it.
 John Maxton (MP for Glasgow Cathcart), Hansard, 25th June 1987

We in Scotland also deplore the fact that the SSEB and the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board are
included in the Government's privatisation schemes because—I say it again, and I shall keep saying it—the
Government have no mandate in Scotland to carry out such legislation for Scotland. The Scottish
people firmly rejected the philosophy of the Conservative party. It lost 11 seats in Scotland and is
down to a rump of 10. A mishmash of Ministers is left as a result of the election, and the fact is that they do
not have the backing of the Scottish people for what they propose to carry out.
 John Maxton (MP for Glasgow Cathcart), Hansard, 21st October 1987

In view of the Government's crushing defeat in Scotland on 11 June, is it not a gross insult to the people of
Scotland that the first piece of major Scottish legislation should be tagged on to the end of the Local
Government Bill? Would it not be better that this legislation, for which the Government have no
mandate in Scotland, should be taken out of that Bill and that a separate Bill for Scotland should be
published and put before the House?
 John Maxton (MP for Glasgow Cathcart), Hansard, 2nd July 1987

The ownership of water in Scotland, and certainly in the Strathclyde region, involves some of the most
beautiful countryside not just in Scotland, but in Britain and even in the world. These facilities belong to the
people of those regions, and the Government have no mandate whatever to sell water to private
companies. Before any hon. Member says that that makes me a nationalist, let me say that the Government
have no mandate because water privatisation was not in the manifesto that they placed before the
Scottish people at the recent general election.
 John Maxton (MP for Glasgow Cathcart), Hansard, 28th October 1992

Will the Secretary of State go to that meeting in sackcloth and ashes, apologise for his past actions and make
it clear that he intends to withdraw all his previous legislation against local authorities in view of yet another
overwhelming defeat for his party in the last district elections—or does he intend to continue as an
arrogant, unelected dictator with no mandate whatever to interfere in Scottish affairs?
 John Maxton (MP for Glasgow Cathcart), Hansard, 16th May 1984
... The present Secretary of State is not elected by the Scottish people. His party has only 21 seats out of
a possible 72 in Scotland. He runs an enormous administration without a mandate from the people of
Scotland. I am not suggesting that the Government have no mandate. The people of Scotland have been
denied their democratic rights for too long.
... Perhaps the hon. Gentleman would be more prepared to listen to a quotation: “I would never adopt the view
that Scotland should be forced into the serfdom of socialism as a result of a vote in the House of Commons".
That was said by Mr Winston Churchill in the Usher Hall in Edinburgh during the 1950 general election
campaign. It is a complete denial of the argument that Parliament is sovereign over the affairs of Scotland. If
it was right for Mr Churchill to say that in 1950, it must be even more right for the Scottish people to
say that the tyranny of Thatcherism should not be imposed on Scotland by votes in this House.
 John Maxton (MP for Glasgow Cathcart), Hansard, 5th March 1985

I wish to give one short quotation in respect of the mandate argument: “I would never adopt the view that
Scotland should be forced into the serfdom of socialism as a result of a vote in the House of
Commons”. I have not heard a better argument for the mandate than that. That was Mr Winston
Churchill at the Usher hall in Edinburgh in 1950. I do not go as far as that. I do not claim that the
Government do not have a mandate in the United Kingdom; they do, on matters relating to the United
Kingdom. The Secretary of State for Scotland has no moral mandate in Scotland. That is where the
mandate argument comes in.
 John Maxton (MP for Glasgow Cathcart), Hansard, 27th January 1988

The Government have no mandate and no democratic right to impose these measures on Scotland,
Lothian region and Edinburgh district.
 John Maxton (MP for Glasgow Cathcart), Hansard, 20th July 1987

As my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Cathcart (Mr Maxton) said, most electricity consumers in
Scotland would far rather the SSEB used its scarce resources to minimise the cost of electricity to its
consumers than preparing to do the Government's dirty work in an area where the Government have no
democratic mandate to carry out policies of privatisation or anything else.
 John Home-Robertson (MP for East Lothian), Hansard, 21st October 1987

The right hon., and learned Gentleman knows that he has no mandate to govern in this manner. He
would be better advised to seek to govern by consent instead of going outright to seek confrontation with the
people of Scotland. The majority of Members representing constituencies in the Lothian region and
from Scotland generally will vote against this oppressive and unjustifiable measure at the end of the
debate.
 John Home-Robertson (MP for East Lothian), Hansard, 20th July 1987

As things stand, the Government have no mandate in the Scottish context, yet they have the effrontery
to say that they want to suggest further legislation. The Queen's Speech today referred to further legislation
for education and housing in Scotland. If it was conciliatory legislation or legislation that was going to lead to
the building of more houses to deal with the housing crisis I dare say that there would be a measure of
support on both sides of the House. However, I am afraid that the Government's track record on that is not
encouraging. If the Government want to legislate in Scotland I would love to know how they will do it
because they have only 10 Members of Parliament left in Scotland. including the Secretary of State for
Defence.
 John Home-Robertson (MP for East Lothian), Hansard, 25th June 1987

This squalid exercise shows pretty outrageous contempt for Scottish interests. The right hon. Member for
Western Isles (Mr Stewart) has already said that the Government have no mandate in Scotland, and I
make no apologies for making the same point. The Government, and the Secretary of State for
Scotland, have no mandate, and no right to control the Scottish Office. It is equally fair to say that the
House, in view of the decision taken by the Scottish people in the 1979 referendum, and in
subsequent general elections, has a pretty tenuous mandate to legislate on local government in
Scotland. Local government should have been devolved to a Scottish Assembly. The people of Scotland
specifically voted for that measure, yet a totally unrepresentative Secretary of State for Scotland now seeks
draconian and unwarranted powers from the House. The people of Scotland will draw their own conclusions
from this state of affairs in due course, but what the House is witnessing today is a pretty despicable
exercise.
 John Home-Robertson (MP for East Lothian), Hansard, 5th March 1984
I have been criticised recently for saying that the Secretary of State has no mandate to govern
Scotland. I stand by that. The Secretary of State is attacking local authorities when he should be working in
the Cabinet to protect Scotland's interests in the face of public expenditure cuts. What is happening today
shows up the Secretary of State for the Quisling that we all know he is. Even those who are unhappy
about the national mandate argument must accept that the Secretary of State has no mandate to
tinker with local authorities' budgets in Scotland.
 John Home-Robertson (MP for East Lothian), Hansard, 21st July 1983

On the basis of the popular vote, the Government's mandate in the United Kingdom is rather shaky,
but in Scotland we now have a Secretary of State who has the support of only 28% of the electorate,
which is about one in four. The Secretary of State for Scotland is an extremely powerful man. He can
supersede almost all other decision-makers in Scotland, even local authorities, and some of us have come
across absurd examples of that...
...I have been rash enough to say that the Government have no mandate in Scotland. That might be
taken as a statement from a member of the extreme gang of four, as we were dubbed by The Scotsman. This
gang of four has nothing to do with the alliance. It consists of myself and my hon. Friends the Members for
Glasgow, Cathcart (Mr Maxton), for Glasgow, Shettleston (Mr Marshall), and for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon
Valley (Mr Foulkes). … It is not only the gang of four who have said that the Government have no
mandate in Scotland; highly responsible people, such as my right hon. the Friend the Member for
Glasgow, Govan (Mr Millan), the shadow Secretary of State for Scotland, have also said it. The
Government have no mandate to administer Scotland. They have only 21 seats out of a total of 72, and
only 28% of the popular vote.
...It is very nice for the Secretary of State for Scotland and his elected, and, more spectacularly, non-elected,
Ministers to exercise all that power regardless of the will of the people of Scotland, but they have no
mandate, and whether they like it or not they are exercising devolved powers...
...The election of a second Thatcher Government has created a constitutional crisis for Scotland. I, together
with many of my hon. Friends and many others in Scotland and elsewhere, must fight long and hard in
the coming months and years to settle that constitutional problem in accordance with the mandate
given to us by the people of Scotland. Scotland has voted Labour, and it wants a Government who will get
our people back to work and cater for the needs of the community.
 John Home-Robertson (MP for East Lothian), Hansard, 22nd June 1983

John Home-Robertson (MP for East Lothian): To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make it his
policy to introduce devolution of decision taking in Scotland to the lowest possible level.
Ian Lang (Secretary of State for Scotland): I am glad to say that the policy of devolving decision making in
Scotland to the lowest possible level, which the hon. Gentleman advocates, is at the heart of the
Government's approach. For example, the creation of local enterprise companies, national health service
trusts, school boards and our proposals in the citizens charter and for local government reform are ample
evidence of that.
John Home-Robertson (MP for East Lothian): None of those bodies is elected. Scots did not vote to be
guinea pigs for rail privatisation, any more than they voted to be guinea pigs for the poll tax. Has the
Secretary of State not noticed that what we have been voting for—consistently, and by very large majorities,
for 20 years—is control over our own affairs in Scotland? Is it not sheer hypocrisy for Ministers to plead
for subsidiarity from Europe while denying Scotland's local and national democratic rights? Finally, will
the Secretary of State tell the Prime Minister that any stock-taking exercise that fails to take account of those
matters can only be described as fraudulent?
 Hansard, 3rd February 1993

Despite the democratically expressed wishes of the people of East Lothian and of Scotland, where 49
out of the 71 constituencies returned Members opposed to the Government, Scotland has a Tory
Secretary of State who administers the devolved powers of the Scottish Office as though he were a colonial
governor. He can do what he wishes in East Lothian as long as the Government: Whips can deliver the
hon. Members for East Grinstead (Sir G. Johnson Smith) and Eastbourne (Mr Gow) and all points south
into the division Lobbies.
 John Home-Robertson (MP for Berwick & East Lothian), Hansard, 1st March 1983

Has the Secretary of State any idea who will be representing Kyle and Carrick district council on COSLA? Will
he bear in mind in all future negotiations that COSLA has a mandate from the people of Scotland
which he will never have?
 John Home-Robertson (MP for East Lothian), Hansard, 16th May 1984
The Government, and the Secretary of State for Scotland, have no mandate, and no right to control
the Scottish Office. It is equally fair to say that the House, in view of the decision taken by the Scottish
people in the 1979 referendum, and in subsequent general elections, has a pretty tenuous mandate to
legislate on local government in Scotland. Local government should have been devolved to a Scottish
Assembly. The people of Scotland specifically voted for that measure, yet a totally unrepresentative
Secretary of State for Scotland now seeks draconian and unwarranted powers from the House. The people of
Scotland will draw their own conclusions from this state of affairs in due course, but what the House is
witnessing today is a pretty despicable exercise.
 John Home-Robertson (MP for East Lothian), Hansard, 5th March 1984

It is right to question the way in which Scotland is governed. I am a federalist, and I want to see a federalist
European Union with its foreign and security policies. I want Scotland to be a federal nation in a federal
system. It is wrong that Scotland is part of a multinational state that is overwhelmingly determined and
shaped by London—by metropolitan thinking and decision-making.
 Norman Godman (MP for Greenock and Port Glasgow), Hansard, 7th February 1994

The odd-job lot opposite who, by any measure of parliamentary democracy have no mandate to
govern in Scotland, seek to make life difficult.
 Norman Godman (MP for Greenock and Port Glasgow), Hansard, 13th April 1994

What has taken place is a disgrace. The Government have no mandate for what they are doing. There
has been no royal commission. In a democracy it is wrong for any political party to set political boundaries.
The point was rightly made earlier that local government reorganisation will in turn impose political boundaries
on the parliamentary constituencies. The Bill has all the hallmarks of a rotten borough Government who
have been in power too long, are too complacent and believe that they will be re-elected time and time
again. The public will react.
 Thomas McAvoy (MP for Glasgow Rutherglen), Hansard, 17th January 1994, on the Local
Government etc. (Scotland) Bill

I object to the fact that they have no mandate for that policy in Scotland, even though they have a
mandate for it in the United Kingdom. Two thirds of our people in Scotland still live in public sector housing or
in private tenanted sector housing, and those people are entitled to a different policy from the one that has
been carried out by the Conservative Government in England and Wales. Even Conservative Members
must realise that this is discrimination against Scotland and that it is giving more money to the richer
areas of the United Kingdom than to the poorer areas such as the industrial parts of Scotland and my area
of west central Scotland.
 David Lambie (MP for Cunninghame, South), Hansard, 29th March 1984

When the poll tax was pushed through against the democratic will of the Scottish people, it was
obvious that the last thing that the Government cared about was the needs of other people. They had no
consideration for those who were too poor to pay it, and compassion was distinctly lacking on the
Conservative Benches. They were determined to push that medicine down everyone's throats and it was not
surprising that people spat it out so vehemently.
 Maria Fyfe (MP for Glasgow Maryhill), Hansard, 16th December 1991

We are, of course, aware of the rather suspect reasons behind these moves, but it is a pleasing irony that
sees a Conservative Government, all too evidently without a mandate to rule in Scotland, introducing
policies to place the control of higher education institutions in the hands of a Scottish Higher Education
Funding Council. That, after all, has been a long-term aim of the Labour party.
 Ernie Ross (MP for Dundee West), Hansard, 26th November 1991

In the election earlier this year, the Government asked the Scottish people whether they wanted to maintain
the status quo—the Union. The Conservative party was the only party to ask that question. Twenty-five% of
the Scottish people said yes, but 75% said, "We may not all want the same thing but we do not want
the status quo."...

...The Government consulted people on hospital trusts. The people told them that they did not want them,
so the people got them. The Government are about to consult people on the privatisation of water, which
they forgot to mention in their election manifesto. They did not tell the Scottish people that they intended to do
anything with water. They are now telling people that they will consult them, but they are not that sure whether
they will accept the answer the people give—they will weigh up all the arguments first.
 Irene Adams (MP for Paisley, North), Hansard, 14th December 1992
DECEASED LABOUR POLITICIANS RAISING THE MANDATE ISSUE
The core of the case for devolution is the democratic argument. Any Parliament which alone initiates
legislation over Scotland's domestic affairs is at the centre of power. It will have the authority to end the
bitterness of the past 17 years, and banish the threat of a future government imposing with crass
insensitivity such policies as the Poll Tax, the opting out of schools, and the undermining of the health
service.
 Donald Dewar, Herald, August 29, 1996. Writing as Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland

It is not enough for the right hon. and learned Gentleman to give us a constitutional lesson and to argue that
the United Kingdom mandate is all that matters. He admitted that the United Kingdom is made up of
component parts—the very name illustrates that. The system is under stress and the structure under
strain because there has been no attempt by the Government to accommodate the needs of at least
one part of the United Kingdom.
 Donald Dewar (MP for Glasgow Garscadden), Hansard 29 June 1987, when Shadow Secretary
of State for Scotland

The Government have no mandate in Scotland. They may have a mandate elsewhere, but not in Scotland.
They sell their ideas through Saatchi and Saatchi and do all sorts of clever things, such as using slogans...
... With respect to you, Mr Deputy Speaker, it is important to appreciate the sense of feeling among
Scottish Labour Members who have been elected to the House and have been outvoted, despite the
tremendous support and mandate that we have in Scotland.
 Ron Brown (MP for Edinburgh, Leith) , Hansard 21 July 1983

Does he appreciate that the mandate that he thinks he has does not operate in Scotland. Does he
accept that councils have the job of resisting the policies of his Government, especially those that are attacks
on jobs and living standards?
 Ron Brown (MP for Edinburgh Leith) , Hansard 13 May 1981

Why does he say that he can carry out his mandate—which is a very doubtful mandate in Scotland—while
at the same time preventing the Lothian region from implementing its mandate?
 Alex Eadie (MP for Midlothian), Hansard 21 July 1981

We must bring about a change in the Scottish economy from the Friedmanite monetarist policies. It might be
argued that the Tory Government have a mandate to impose such policies on the people of England,
but they should not be imposed upon the people of Scotland, because they did not vote Tory. They
voted Labour. Therefore, they should be given special consideration. It is not that I would keep that special
consideration for Scotland. Being a good Socialist, I should like the same to apply to England. Nevertheless,
as the English voted for a Tory Government, they should suffer the consequences. However, some
credence should be given to the way that the Scottish electorate voted.
 William McKelvey (MP for Kilmarnock), Hansard 20 February 1980

... If the motion tonight were to be decided purely by Scottish Members, and if all 72 of them were here,
we should know the result of the vote before the tellers went in. 64, including two Conservatives, would
vote against the Bill, and there would be only eight Tories in favour. That is the measure of support for
the Bill., and that is why it should be thrown in the dustbin.

 Harry Ewing (MP for Falkirk East), Hansard, 6 March 1989, on the Self-Governing Schools etc.
(Scotland) Bill

PRO-INDEPENDENCE LABOUR POLITICIANS RAISING THE MANDATE ISSUE

As a fortnight tomorrow will be the fifth anniversary of the referendum, when the majority of voters voted for a
Scottish Assembly, although they were denied their democratic right, why have the Government refused
the reasonable application from the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly to hold a meeting in the old royal high
school building on that day? Does the hon. and learned Gentleman not feel like an illegal squatter,
occupying part of a building that was earmarked for a Scottish Parliament, when he is a member of a
Government who were rejected by over 70% of the people of Scotland and who have no mandate to
rule the people of Scotland?
 Dennis Canavan (MP for Falkirk West), Hansard, 15 February 1984
As the Prime Minister was decisively rejected at the general election by more than 70% of Scottish voters, will
she admit that she received no mandate from the people of Scotland, the majority of whom voted for
candidates who stood on manifestos containing commitments to set up a Scottish assembly? If the
Prime Minister pays any more than lip-service to democracy, will she now take steps to deliver to the people
of Scotland what they voted for?
 Dennis Canavan (MP for Falkirk West), Hansard, 12 July 1983

As the Tory vote in the district elections slumped to just over 21%, does that not prove conclusively
that the Secretary of State has no mandate to intervene in the affairs of Scottish local government and
that he should get out and leave the councillors to get on with the job they were elected to do?
 Dennis Canavan (MP for Falkirk West), Hansard, 16 May 1984

How can the Government argue that they have a mandate for foisting this deadly weapon on the
people of Scotland when this militant Tory Government were rejected by over 70% of the Scottish
people at the general election?
 Dennis Canavan (MP for Falkirk West), Hansard, 12 July 1983

As the majority party in Scotland—the Labour party—surely we have the right to say that enough is enough.
We shall therefore fight tooth and nail. Many of our people in local government — whether in Stirling,
Falkirk, Dundee, Glasgow, Edinburgh or anywhere else—have a better mandate to represent their people
than the Secretary of State for Scotland, whose party was rejected by more than 70% of the people of
Scotland at the recent general election.
 Dennis Canavan (MP for Falkirk West), Hansard, 02 November 1983

A couple of minutes ago the Prime Minister mentioned her general election success, but her party in Scotland
has been reduced to such a discredited rump that Scottish Tory Members of Parliament could not even form a
football team and the Secretary of State for Scotland is like some discredited colonial governor-general
who received no democratic mandate from the people whom he governs. Why is there no mention of
that in the Queen's Speech? Why, in particular, is there no mention of proposals to do what the majority of
people of Scotland want—the setting-up of a devolved Scottish Parliament with legislative and economic
powers to help repair a lot of the damage that has been done by eight hard years of Thatcherism?
 Dennis Canavan (MP for Falkirk West), Hansard, 25 June 1987

The Stirling district councillors have a mandate from the local people. The Secretary of State for
Scotland does not. Indeed, the Secretary of State has no mandate from the people of Scotland. He is
behaving like the son of a medieval viscount, riding roughshod over the wishes of the people of
Scotland, and in particular the people of Stirling district.
 Dennis Canavan (MP for Falkirk West), Hansard, 20 July 1982

Some of us have not paid as a political protest against an unjust tax foisted upon us by a Government with
no democratic mandate from the people of Scotland.
 Dennis Canavan (MP for Falkirk West), Hansard, 09 February 1990

If they had an ounce of democratic decency left in them, they would have humbly accepted defeat and
admitted that they had received no democratic mandate for housing policy, or anything else, from the
people of Scotland. They would have abandoned the plans to introduce this sort of Scottish legislation,
which the majority of Scots clearly do not want and which is being imposed on them by a Government whom
they rejected at the last election.
 Dennis Canavan (MP for Falkirk West), Hansard, 30 March 1988

As a result of the general election—I am not the only hon. Member who has said this in this debate — the
Government received no democratic mandate from the people of Scotland.
 Dennis Canavan (MP for Falkirk West), Hansard, 25 June 1987

In Scotland my party was not defeated. We had a marvellous victory and returned 50 of our country's 72
Members of Parliament. We received a clear mandate from the Scottish people for the policies that we
put to them in the recent election campaign, including our policy for creating a directly elected Assembly in
Edinburgh...
...If the House really is the mother of Parliaments and the seat of democracy, it will recognise the
democratic decision of the Scottish people on 11 June and deliver to my country the changes that it so
clearly desires.
 John McAllion (MP for Dundee East), Hansard, Hansard 30 June 1987
In terms of Scottish local government, the Government have no democratic mandate to impose such
measures on Scottish local authorities.
 John McAllion (MP for Dundee East), Hansard, 13 June 1989

The Government must take on board the fact that their majority in this House does not give them the
democratic right to destroy local government in Scotland. If they proceed with the destruction of local
government in Scotland, they will pay the ultimate political price for it.
 John McAllion (MP for Dundee East), Hansard, Hansard 17 January 1994

We do not believe that the Government have a democratic right to decide Scotland's representation in
Europe—or any of the other issues that affect the Scottish people. The Scottish people have that right, which
is why all the opposition parties signed the claim of right for Scotland
 John McAllion (MP for Dundee East), Hansard, Hansard 06 July 1993

Will the Secretary of State for Scotland come to Scotland United's next rally and march in Edinburgh on
Saturday 6 June where he will see thousands upon thousands of Scots voicing their demand for a
referendum? Perhaps he will take that opportunity to explain to them why the Government support
democracy for small nations everywhere in the world except Scotland. Does he understand that we so-
called Opposition Scottish Members actually represent the democratic majority in Scotland and that we
have come south not to sell Scotland out but to wring from this undemocratic Westminster Parliament, by
whatever means necessary in or out of this place, Scotland's democratic right to decide for itself how and by
whom it is governed?
 John McAllion (MP for Dundee East), Hansard, 20 May 1992

John McAllion (MP for Dundee East): I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to provide for the
establishment of a Scottish Assembly and Executive and for their functions and powers; and to make
consequential provision. Ten years ago today the people of Scotland voted by a majority of 77,000 to
establish a directly elected national assembly for their country...
...There is and there will be an absolute democratic imperative on the House to recognise the will of
the Scottish people. If that imperative is ignored and if this House again sells the pass on the Scottish
question, it can no longer claim any democratic legitimacy in Scotland and it will deserve to be
opposed by democrats not only in Scotland but throughout the United Kingdom.

Question put and agreed to.

Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr John McAllion, Mr Ernie Ross, Mr William McKelvey, Mr George
Galloway. Mrs. Maria Fyfe, Mr Thomas Graham, Dr. Norman A. Godman, Mr Jimmy Dunnachie, Mr
Jimmy Wray, Mr Harry Ewing, Mr John McFall and Mr Martin O'Neill.
 Hansard, 1st March 1989

It is important that the Minister should clarify such details, because the Government are interfering in
matters that they know nothing about. They know nothing about Scottish local government, yet they are
imposing this new system on Scotland against the will of the Scottish people, and the Opposition will
continue to resist them.
 John McAllion (MP for Dundee East), Hansard, 13th June 1989