The United Kingdom faces unprecedented constitutional change on the back of Scottish voters' decision to reject independence, following a pledge by prime minister David Cameron to heed public concerns.
However, a pledge made to Scots that the Holyrood parliament in Edinburgh will get more powers will not be honoured until after the British general election in May next year – which could provoke accusations of betrayal.
Scotland's first minister, Alex Salmond, who announced his resignation yesterday, warned that Scots would hold London's "feet to the flames" to ensure promises are kept.
Welcoming the “clear result” in the referendum – 55.3 per cent voted No to independence and 44.7 per cent voted Yes, a bigger margin than expected – Mr Cameron said: “There can be no disputes, no reruns – we have heard the settled will of the Scottish people.”
Saying he heard complaints about London's dominance, Mr Cameron said Scotland deserved more self-control, but so too did England, Wales and Northern Ireland. "We have heard the voice of Scotland and now the millions of voices of England must be heard," said the prime minister.
However, the timetable for reform offered by Mr Cameron, Labour leader Ed Miliband and the Liberal Democrats' Nick Clegg, in a pledge known in Scotland as "The Vow", is already in trouble.
Constitutional convention
Mr Miliband
, concerned by Mr Cameron’s plans to exclude Scottish MPs from votes on English laws, has said a full UK-wide constitutional convention should be set up after next year’s election. Every “nation and region” in the UK would have to be involved, bringing together “MPs and councillors with ordinary citizens and civil society”, said Mr Miliband, a process that could take years.
Former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown had driven the promise of more powers in the final weeks, believing the referendum would be lost unless Scots were given more reason to reject calls to vote Yes. He pledged work on extra powers would begin immediately, and be turned into a draft Bill by November and into legislation before the House of Commons by the end of January.
Twin-track approach
Initially, Mr Cameron appeared to be proposing a roughly similar timetable, but that is now far less clear given his decision to include English devolution in the mix. The prime minister proposes a twin-track approach: a committee headed by leader of the House of Commons
William Hague
to consider the need for a greater English voice, and a separate body in the case of Scotland.
There are fears in Scotland that the decisive referendum result has reduced its negotiating hand in the talks to come.
Saying he suspects Mr Cameron cannot carry a majority of Conservative MPs with him, Mr Salmond added: “We lost the referendum vote but can still carry the political initiative. More importantly Scotland can still emerge as the real winner.”
Wales’s first minister Carwyn Jones made it clear everything must change after the Scottish result, and Wales would not play second fiddle to anyone in the negotiations.
“The old union is dead, we need to forge a new union,” he said. “We cannot escape the fact that the prime minister almost sleepwalked to disaster last night and it’s time for him to listen to the voice of the people.”
