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Scotland Bill

My Lords, we recognise the frustrations that have been expressed here, especially that this House and the other place have a self-denying ordinance and convention that we do not discuss devolved areas, but that is not respected in the Scottish Parliament. Nevertheless, there are three particular problems with the amendment. First, it seems to me pretty difficult to put down on paper a line that states that you can talk about this issue but not that one. If I may say so, the intervention from the noble Lord, Lord Sanderson, highlights that. It is true that energy policy generally, though not in renewables, is reserved to the United Kingdom Parliament. It is not just powers under Section 36 of the Electricity Act but other significant powers in relation to nuclear power that are devolved executively to the Scottish Parliament. One would not wish to stop it discussing nuclear power in that context. Similarly, one can make a case in relation to nuclear missiles and their stationing in Scotland. It has economic and social consequences for the area in which they are situated and certainly it would be difficult to discuss the consequences without being able to state whether one was for or against nuclear weapons as a whole. It is equally the case with economic issues. The noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, makes an interesting point about the Bank of England, but more generally one has to be able to discuss the wider economic context in which these issues apply. That is the first point. It is difficult to draw the line. The second point is that, with the greatest respect, I do not think that the amendment cures the problem, as it states, "““except on a motion to make representations to the United Kingdom Government””." I suspect that every discussion of reserved matters will be a ““motion to make representations”” about all sorts of reserved matters. The third is that, whatever the rights or wrongs of the original position of the Scottish Parliament, I very much agree with the noble Lord, Lord Forsyth, that it would be wrong to try to put the genie back in the bottle by now saying, ““You can’t discuss what you have been discussing for the last 10 years or so under successive Administrations””. That would be seen very badly in Scotland, so with regret, I cannot support the amendment.