Conflict of interest in appointment of Jim Gallagher as Scotland Bill adviser

Quite extraordinary news that Jim Gallagher, the man who really presided over the Calman Commission, has been appointed to advise the committee scrutinising the Scotland Bill in the Scottish parliament. This is really bad news for anyone who listened to the debate on the Bill in parliament, and hoped there might be an opportunity to improve it (it is Westminster who will ultimately legislate and decide Scotland's future). Mr Gallagher was a senior civil servant appointed by Gordon Brown to oversee devolution and was said to have been hostile to arguments from those trying to improve it, notable the Campaign for Fiscal Responsibility who argued that we needed to devolve a far wider range of taxes to help grow Scotland's economy.  Indeed it is notable that the biggest concession the Scots were able to extract from London - the limited borrowing powers - came after Gallagher had left the building.  He is said to be protective of his baby which is, of course, designed to safeguard the UK union and Scotland's powerlessness in that union. The day the bill was published last week he wrote a piece for the Telegraph titled Why the Scotland Bill is good for England. How on earth can he be considered an independent adviser on this? And whose idea was it to bring him in? 

 

The full exclusive story by Robbie Dinwoodie can be read here in The Herald

Comments

[bugger (the Panda)]

Rearrange these words into a well known phrase or saying

up stitch

they really are pushing through the envelope of the democratic process and. don't seem to see that or care.

Blinkered, bellicose and blethering and buggered

[Dougthedug]

Joan,
Labour wrote the Calman Recommendations even though all three unionist parties were in the Commission and it's now been presented as a Lib-Dem Tory Bill.

The idea that any one of the three junior regional wings of these parties are going to give the bill a hard time or be critical of the way it has been drafted or who is appointed to advise Holyrood is laughable. They will do as they are told.

"...who's idea was it to bring him in?"

It was probably agreed between all three unionist parties at a level well above the regional wings and I'm sure Goldie and Scott as regional managers for the Conservatives and the Lib-Dems will be happy about it as will Gray as the Holyrood Office Manager for Labour.

As far as the unionist parties are concerned the Holyrood Committee is just for rubber-stamping anything presented by Westminster.

[CWH]

Would the answer to your last question be: Wendy Alexander? The person who thought up the Calman Commission and who will chair the Holyrood Committee examining the Bill?

Or would the answer be her former boss and mentor: Gordon Brown?