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Early day motion tabled by primary sponsor Pete Wishart (Scottish National Party), on Monday, 18 February 2008, in the House of Commons. It is signed by 2 members in total.

BERWICK-UPON-TWEED AND SCOTLAND

That this House warmly welcomes the result of the poll commissioned by ITV's Tonight programme that found that a clear majority of the residents of Berwick-upon-Tweed want to become part of Scotland; notes that the people of Berwick recognise the benefits of being governed by a Scottish Government in Edinburgh committed to improving services instead of the current situation of remote, uncaring Westminster indifference; recognises that Berwick-upon-Tweed has changed hands between Scotland and England at least 13 times in the past and that the views of the people of Berwick should be paramount in the town's future; looks forward to warmly welcoming Berwick-upon-Tweed back into the nation of Scotland and believes that negotiations should begin between the Scottish and UK governments to secure Berwick-upon-Tweed's restoration as part of the nation of Scotland.

Amendments

The Early day motion has received 3 amendments.

938A1
leave out from `Scotland' to end and add `notes that a poll of 1,957 Berwick-upon-Tweed residents is not a clear majority of a population of 11,665; further notes the fact that Berwick-upon-Tweed has been part of the England since 1482 and was made a county in 1551; and is bemused that the SNP is using a county that has been English since the 15th century as a campaigning issue.'.
938A2
leave out `warmly welcomes' and insert `notes'.
938A3
leave out from `programme' to end and add `further notes that the poll was conducted by asking a limited number of people in the street whether they thought Berwick would be better off in Scotland; observes that the SNP Government in Scotland has issued a statement that it is not making any territorial claims on England, and draws this statement to the attention of the hon. Member for Perth and North Perthshire and the right hon. Member for Banff and Buchan; draws attention to the fact that the majority of the population of the borough live outside the part of it which was in Scotland 500 years ago, and that any moving of the border would have serious implications for property law, the criminal justice system and the Church of England and for many other matters; and recognises that the ITV programme identified the genuine concern that Berwick and other parts of England do not enjoy the free personal care for the elderly and free student tuition secured by Liberal Democrats when they were part of the coalition government in Scotland, and do not enjoy the higher spending levels on schools, highways and other public services financed under the Barnett formula.'.

Secondary information

Type
Early day motion
Reference
938 
938A1 
938A2 
938A3 
Session
2007-08
Other sponsors
Alex Salmond
Subjects
Devolution Scottish Parliament
Link
View this Early day motion on www.parliament.uk