Cameron backlash over 'Scottish PM'

By BENEDICT BROGAN, Daily Mail

Last updated at 08:19 04 July 2006


David Cameron faced a backlash from his own MPs last night after one of his frontbenchers said it was now "almost impossible" to have a Scottish prime minister.

In a clear attack on Gordon Brown, Shadow Trade Secretary Alan Duncan suggested at the weekend that the English were no longer prepared to see a Scottish politician running the country because of the impact of devolution.

However, his comments fuelled fears that Mr Cameron is moving his party away from its long-standing support for the Union.

Senior Tories warned he could put the future of the United Kingdom at risk if he allows the debate to spiral out of control.

Tory officials insisted Mr Duncan "was not speaking for the party", but there was no disguising the anger among some MPs.

Shadow Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox and former Defence Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind said attempts to make political trouble for the Chancellor could backfire.

Dr Fox said: "The Conservative party needs to remember that it is a Unionist party. This is a constitutional debate that needs to be seen in those terms.

"If it becomes used for short term political knock-about it could have consequences for the cohesion of the UK."

While accepting that the problems raised by devolution needed to be addressed, Dr Fox warned: "To go further and claim that a Scottish MP would have difficulty in becoming Prime Minister plays into the hands of the nationalists."

Sir Malcolm said: "The question of how to deal with English business in the Commons is a serious problem that has to be dealt with.

"This all stems from the Government's failure to deal with something that is manifestly unfair. But to say having a Scottish MP as Prime Minister is unconstitutional is daft."

Law change

Mr Cameron confirmed at the weekend that he wants to change the law to ban Scots MPs from voting on exclusively English legislation in the Commons.

His "English votes for English laws" proposal, which was included in the Tory election manifesto last year, is designed to correct one of the consequences of the 1998 Scottish devolution deal.

MPs for English constituencies no longer have a say on Scottish issues, even though their counterparts from constituencies north of the border can still vote on purely English issues.

Labour has relied on its Scottish MPs to get contentious English legislation such as university tuition fees and foundation hospitals through the Commons.

Mr Cameron believes voters in England will respond favourably to a campaign designed to underscore Mr Brown's Scottishness.

The Chancellor in turn has tried to play up his British credentials and backed England in the World Cup.

The Tories have only one MP north of the border and many Tory MPs now want the party to take on a much more explicitly English identity.

Although Labour has a majority of English MPs, the Tories won a majority of votes in England at the last election.

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