Brown insists promises will be kept

Gordon Brown has insisted Westminster will keep its promises on delivering more powers to Scotland.

He revealed a motion will be put before Parliament tomorrow signed by the three main party leaders as well as himself committing MPs to the timetable he revealed in the last days of the referendum campaign.

And he promised the powers that Holyrood gains will mean unpopular policies such the Bedroom Tax and Poll Tax won’t be imposed on Scotland against its will, while keeping the NHS under Scottish Government control.

However critics claim the pro-union parties have already broken their promise to set legislation in motion the day after the independence poll.

Speaking to a packed hall in his Fife constituency yesterday, Brown said: “The promises that were made about change, about the delivery of further devolution must be, and I believe will be, delivered.”

Former Prime Minister Brown said he won’t be returning to frontline politics after being widely credited with shoring up Labour support and ensuring there was a No vote. However he put himself at the centre of forthcoming wrangles over Devo Max proposals to be passed by Westminster.

He said: “I’ll focus on what I can do to ensure promise makers do not become promise breakers and help as one of the promise keepers.”

He set out a “triple lock” which he claims will stop MPs from kicking the issue into the long grass.

He said: “Because people have already doubted whether it would be delivered, I want to make clear there is a triple protection, locking in the certainty of change as against inertia and delay.”

A motion is to be laid in Parliament tomorrow tying Westminster to the Brown timetable that would see a Command Paper by the end of October setting out each party’s proposals.

That would be followed by a White Paper for discussion published by St Andrew’s Day, November 30. Draft legislation would follow by Burn’s Night on January 25. That would begin the legislative journey before parliament is dissolved in March ahead of the next General Election.

Brown’s second lock is an assurance that the Civil Service are working to his timetable and already drawing up proposals. The third measure is a debate in the House of Commons in the first week that Parliament sits after the party conference season. Brown will lead that debate.

However the party conferences are set to be marred by squabbles over what a new Scottish settlement would mean for England and the rest of the UK.

Despite that all three Westminster party leaders, writing exclusively for The Sunday Post today, have reaffirmed their support for a new Scotland Act within the Brown timetable.

David Cameron said more tax, welfare and spending powers will be handed to Holyrood while deputy Nick Clegg wants to “rewire power across the UK.”

Ed Miliband offered a “guarantee” more powers will be devolved despite appearing to backtrack on Friday from the “vow” he signed with Clegg and Cameron before the referendum. Last week he announced Labour would set up a constitutional convention if they win in May which some saw as an attempt to put off dealing with the devolution issue.

Added Brown: “I’m utterly convinced that whatever else happens, and of course there are debates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that are separate as well as linked to the debate in Scotland, that unconditionally the timetable and the powers that I set out will be delivered. I want to give an assurance that when they were told two weeks ago there would be delivery after decision day that has started and will continue and people can be assured that is being monitored and the eyes of the world are upon it.”

However the SNP have spent the weekend attacking the Westminster parties over a Better Together leaflet that promised the first Parliamentary Motion would be produced on Friday rather than Monday.

David Torrance MSP said: “Better Together told the Scottish electorate a motion would be presented on Friday, September 19 on giving more powers to Scotland a promise which has already been broken.

“The reality is our timetable for more devolution is now defined by Westminster, not ourselves. Gordon Brown’s reputation is in tartan tatters.”

Brown also called on the nation to set aside its differences.

He said: “There is a time to fight and a time to unite and from today onwards this is the time to unite.

“Not just in words but in deeds and around what I know we can discover as a common purpose for our country.”

He’s proposed establishing two new bodies. Serve Scotland would aim to mobilise people engaged by the independence referendum in tackling poverty and inequality while Congregate would be a vehicle for allowing people to come together to discuss ideas in a non party political way.