MPs criticise draft of new Scotland Bill

MPs have criticised the drafting of the legislation which is expected to transfer further powers from Westminster to Holyrood.

The Commons Political and Constitutional Reform Committee described the draft clauses for a new Scotland Bill as “not credible".

The draft was published in response to the Smith Commission recommendations.

The UK government said it was committed to a balanced settlement for all parts of the UK, but it said it would consider the issues the committee raised.

The Scottish government reaffirmed its demand for the Scotland Bill to be enacted as soon as possible.

MPs on the committee said the draft clauses fell well short of being a credible bill, and also raised concerns that it did not meet the brief of the cross-party Smith Commission, which was set up to consider what new powers should be devolved to Holyrood in the wake of last September's independence referendum.

The committee's report said the UK government's draft contained a "legally vacuous" and "potentially contradictory" commitment to enshrine the Scottish Parliament as a permanent institution.

But it acknowledged that the commitment did "constitute a further political (if not a legal) obstacle to any attempted abolition of those institutions" rendering any future abolition "inconceivable."

The committee also expressed concerns at the haste with which the draft clauses were being enacted.