Rifkind's Scottish U-turn
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Your support makes all the difference.A Scottish parliament could have its uses, Malcolm Rifkind, the former foreign secretary, has conceded in a remarkable toning down of dire pre- election Tory warnings about devolution.
Mr Rifkind, who lost his Edinburgh Pentlands seat in the election, told The Scotsman newspaper: "As we have our own Scottish legal system, and have a separate Scottish office, then there could be some utility in having these matters determined by an elected parliament in Scotland."
But he said the potential disadvantages - the threat posed to Scottish representation in Westminster and Whitehall, and the risk of a cut in the favourable public expenditure allocation - outweighed the advantages.
He also said the risk of a break-up of the United Kingdom was low - in spite of the gory threats presented by his party during the election campaign. In one particularly strong speech, John Major had said Tony Blair was threatening to take the ancient and functioning constitution of the United Kingdom "and gash through the tapestry with a vandal's knife. And what would be the consequence? ... a Disunited Kingdom drifting towards a United States of Europe."
Mr Rifkind said of the threat of break-up: "I believe there is a risk that that could happen. But I also believe the innate good sense of the Scottish and the English - a determination to persevere in the UK - means that it is highly probable that the UK will survive."
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