Scottish leaders demand more devolved powers from Britain

As thousands of Scots around the world meet to celebrate Burns Night on Jan. 25, celebrating the life and poetry of their most famous poet Robert Burns who lived in the 1700s, the evening this year holds particular significance.

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron was in Scotland's capital city of Edinburgh Thursday to fulfill a pledge made during the Scottish referendum debate -- the publication of a parliamentary bill to provide more powers to the Scottish Parliament.

In military terms, Scotland may not have won the war for independence, but it has won the battle, with powers promised under the new bill to levy its own taxes.

Referring to a pre-referendum vow made by Britain's three major political parties, the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats, Cameron commented: "We said draft legislation would be published by Burns Night and here we are, three days before the celebrations start, with those clauses before us."

The message from Cameron was the new powers offered to Scotland were "built to last," making Holyrood, home of the Scottish Parliament, "one of the most powerful devolved parliaments in the world."

Even before the ink was dry on the new bill, the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), that currently rules Scotland, said the provisions did not go far enough, and that they wanted more powers than those on the table.

Scotland's First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said it was a "significant watering down" of what had been promised.

The publication today came because of a promise that new legislation to pave the way for greater powers for Scotland would be presented before Burns Night.

The bill will not become law until after May's British General Election, and between now and then there will be extensive debates by politicians on both sides of Hadrian's Wall, the stone barrier built to separate Scotland and England.

Much of the debate will center on the impact of the new powers for Scotland on England and Wales. Currently, Wales has its own elected assembly, essentially a half-way house between home rule and specified devolved powers within the Principality of Wales. The message from the Welsh valleys will be more powers for Welsh people.

The big battle grounds, though, will be in the English Regions, particularly in the North West and North East which border Scotland.

The North West, which spans the western side of England from the Scottish border to the Welsh border, has a population of more than 7 million, almost 2 million more than the population in Scotland.

Politicians in the North West have already expressed concern about the potential impact on its region once Scotland, its next door neighbor, is given its own tax raising powers. Currently, taxes for Britain are decided in Westminster, and a variation could influence decision-making by major businesses.

Another big concern is the legal right of members of parliament for Scottish Constituencies to be able to vote on laws and issues affecting England, whereas English MPs will have no say on decisions affecting Scotland.

By convention, the Scottish National Party has said its policy is not to vote on England-only matters coming before the British Parliament.

But just this week, First Minister Sturgeon announced the SNP would vote on matters affecting the English National Health Service because of the potential impact decisions about the NHS could have on Scotland.

The new powers will give Scotland the power to set income tax rates and tax bands, but not to alter the threshold above which tax is paid.

It also proposes a proportion of value-added tax (currently set at 20 percent) levied in Scotland to be assigned to Holyrood.

The Scottish Parliament will win the power to fix its own air passenger duty, something causing worry at Britain's third biggest airport, Manchester over the border in North West England. Endit