Gordon Brown has said
promises made by the "No" parties ahead of the Scottish independence
referendum on change and further
devolution will be delivered.The former prime minister said it was time to move from the "battleground to the common ground" after a majority in Scotland voted "No" to leaving the UK.
He added: "We will lock in today the promises that we have made".
The SNP said a pledge to present a motion on more powers to parliament on Friday had already been broken.
Politicians in England and Scotland are considering how the UK will be governed in the future.
In a speech in Dalgety Bay, Fife, Mr Brown described three "lock ins" which he said demonstrated that pre-referendum promises would be kept:
- a resolution has been signed by David Cameron, Nick Clegg, Ed Miliband and Mr Brown committing to a timetable of action including draft legislation for a new Scotland Bill by the end of January. The motion will be placed in the House of Commons on Monday.
- civil servants were already at work drawing up a timetable and detailed plans so that a "command paper" setting out new powers can be published by the end of October.
- a House of Commons debate to be held on Thursday 16 October to ensure the plans are on track.
Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed to deliver on the pre-referendum promises made by the three main Westminster parties to boost the powers of Scotland's devolved parliament.
He has tasked Lord Smith of Kelvin, who led Glasgow's staging of the Commonwealth Games, with overseeing the process of taking their commitments forward, with new powers over tax, spending and welfare to be agreed by November, and draft legislation published by January.
Mr Cameron has also proposed a system where only MPs from England would vote on English issues in Parliament.
Source:BBC
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