SCOTLAND'S first Parliament in 300 years moved closer to reality last night as the historic Scotland Bill received its final reading in the House of Commons, writes Denis Campbell, Political Correspondent.
MPs passed the Bill without a vote as the end of its Third Reading signalled the completion of its progress through Westminster's lower house.
The legislation will now move next month to the House of Lords where peers of various parties, especially Conservatives, are likely to subject it to close scrutiny.
History will record that the 1998 Scotland Bill was debated for more than 80 hours by MPs over 13 separate days spanning four months.
Scottish Office Ministers insist that the Scotland Bill will definitely reach the statute book by the autumn as promised, even if members of the House of Lords try to delay its progress.
Devolution Minister Henry McLeish hailed the end of the Bill's Commons stages as another milestone on the road to Scotland gaining a significant measure of self-government. The Government had proved wrong cynics who said devolution could not be delivered on time.
The Government also rejected a Conservative bid to stop the Scottish Parliament from ever paying MSPs more than Westminster MPs.
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