RECORDS REVEAL REVOLT OVER WILSON DEVOLUTION PLANS

Prime Minister Harold Wilson was warned his 1970s gamble on devolution would lead to Scottish independence if it failed, official documents made public today reveal.

Secret government papers from 1975/76 unearthed by The Herald newspaper show the extent of internal opposition to the then-Prime Minister's flagship policy of devolution for Scotland and Wales, as well as concern among the policy's own supporters.

The files have been accessed at the National Archives in London under the 30-year-rule.
Wilson was behind efforts to devolve power to both Scotland and Wales as economic crises raging across Britain in the 1970s.

But according to The Herald, papers clearly indicate that some senior ministers thought the devolution project was politically mad and should be dropped.

The measure is described by the Treasury as a "firebreak" to stop SNP momentum in the mid-1970s, the paper says. Nationalist representation at Westminster reached a high point after the
1974 General Election when the party won 11 seats on the back of SNP's "It's Scotland's Oil" campaign.

One memo seen by The Herald quotes Commons leader Ted Short telling the Prime Minister that there was "fairly widespread misgiving" on the Labour back benches about the plans for Scottish and Welsh assemblies, and that it was "disappointing so many of our supporters are reluctant to see the merits of our scheme".

According to the paper, Mr Short wrote: "If our present policy does not carry the day, the direction in which we shall be forced will not be back towards the status quo or less devolution.
"The possibility of a separate state north of the border (bringing, incidentally, a permanent shift of political balance south of it) is not far-fetched."

The number of Labour anti-devolutionists was said to include Labour luminaries such as Tam Dalyell, Neil Kinnock, Robert Kilroy-Silk, and Dennis Skinner, as well as future New Labour ministers Robin Cook and Brian Wilson, The Herald said.

The newspaper also discovered comments from Wilson Cabinet member Harold Lever, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who declared that the government's constitutional strategy for Scotland and Wales "cannot work".

In a memo of June 1975 to the PM seen by the Herald Mr Lever argued it would cause "serious friction" between London and Edinburgh with the Labour-run Scottish Executive handing over "more and more money and more and more independence" to appease the SNP.

Labour pursued its devolution proposal for Scotland and Wales, eventually seeing votes take place in 1979.

The Scots narrowly said yes to devolution ? 52% to 48% ? but did not meet the necessary 40% population threshold, while the Welsh voted no overwhelmingly, 80% to 20%.
According to the Herald, the documents also reveal Labour ruled out a referendum on independence as it feared it might not win.

A memo by Sir John Garlick, head of the government's constitution unit, reportedly said: "The underlying idea of a referendum on independence for Scotland is to secure a firm No and thus weaken the Nationalists by being able to dismiss their policy ... at best, the move works only if there is a clear no with a high poll.

"Many factors might mitigate against this. The Nationalists might go for abstention, people might not turn out, there might be tactical voting, eg a significant yes element designed simply to convey a demand for more devolution. Or perhaps worst of all, there might be a significantly large and genuine yes vote."

Commenting on the disclosures, an SNP spokesman said today: "Just as 30-year papers have revealed that London governments covered up Scotland's oil wealth, these new papers reveal how Labour's commitment to Scottish self-government was lukewarm at least. And just as the Tories are prepared to prop up Labour in the Scottish Parliament, they also reveal how Labour connived with the Tories to stall devolution.

"These papers' revelations only show why more and more people distrust the London parties and are turning to the SNP as we approach the elections in May."