Scotland Bill

This may not be something that the hon. Gentleman is used to hearing, but I am going to tell him, ““Not yet””. As my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North said, until we have a ruling and clarification, there is a risk to the Scottish Government. That does not mean withholding those powers for ever, but is about protecting Scotland and looking out for its interests. On corporation tax, the hon. Member for Dundee East spoke about how he was in favour of tax competition. It appears that the only trend available to the Scottish National party is a downward one—a race to the bottom. We must therefore ask how they will make up the shortfall in revenue. My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North spoke of an £600 million annual loss to the Scottish economy for an indeterminate period. What will the SNP cut to make up for that? Will it cut apprenticeships, health care or education? That question has not been answered. We are also rather short on consultation, which is unsurprising given the SNP's absence from the consultative process throughout the history of devolution. I will be interested to hear the hon. Member for Dundee East—that is not an invitation to intervene—address the question of exactly whom the SNP consulted in drawing up its proposals and how that took place. Consultation has been the Labour party's approach, but I suspect that it has not been the SNP approach. The Committee today has a clear choice on whether to adopt a set of proposals that offer progress and development for the Scottish Parliament and Government. I very much hope that after 5 May, the Scottish Government will take advantage of all the levers at their disposal that encourage and foster economic growth in Scotland. At no point in the Bill's progress or the Calman Commission has the case been made to advance the cause of full fiscal autonomy for Scotland. I respect the SNP position, and I like them to be up front and honest about it. The SNP wants independence—that is their one policy aim, even if it seemed not to talk about it quite so much over the weekend. The SNP would expose Scotland to those risks, whereas the Bill and the Calman Commission offer the opportunity for Scotland to have a mature Parliament that takes responsibility at the same time as spending money, and that will answer many of the criticisms in the e-mail from Mr Haig to the hon. Member for Milton Keynes South (Iain Stewart). If the amendment is pressed to a Division, I hope the Committee makes the right decision and recognises the achievements of the Bill, and that it rejects the SNP's minority report and fantastical proposals.