A SCOTTISH Tory MP has called for the post of Scottish Secretary to be abolished.
Brexiter Ross Thomson told a fringe event at his party conference the post should be replaced with a new cabinet role covering Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Aberdeen South MP said there should be a “Union Unit” in Downing Street coordinating work across government departments to remind them of the Union’s importance.
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He said there should still be a Scotland Office with junior officers, but the seat in cabinet would be given to a powerful new secretary for constitutional affairs.
He insited he was not criticising the current Scottish Secretary, Remainer David Mundell.
Speaking at an event called “Strengthening the Union”, Mr Thomson said the Scotland Office still hadn’t adjusted to devolution or the presence of a First Minister in Scotland.
He said the practice in Whitehall remained one of “devolve and forget”, rather than actively protecting the Union and promoting the work of the UK Government north of the border.
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He said: “I do think something needs to change. My view is that maybe it is now time to review the role of the Scotland Office.
“I believe that having a department of constitutional affairs may be a way of addressing those issues, modernising our constitution and giving more weight to the devolved nations.
“My view would be have someone who is like a secretary of state, almost like a deputy prime minister – a David Lidington kind of figure – this big person around the Cabinet table who is responsible for constitutional affairs, but ensuring coordination between all the territorial offices.”
He said the Scottish Government was far better at communicating its work to Scotland’s voters than the UK Government, and it was doing that every day.
He went on: “If the Union is to be strengthened it has to come from the top. It has to come from Number 10 Downing Street. Number 10 can make departments talk to each other. “That’s not happening at the moment.”
Asked if he was being critical of Mr Mundell, he said: “No, not at all. It should never be seen as a personal criticism of either [Welsh Secretary] Alun Cairns, or David, or [Northern Ireland Secretary] Karen Bradley, it’s not.
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“I genuinely do think we’ve been quite lazy on devolution in the sense that the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government have been there since 1999.
“Have we ever really caught up? Sometimes I think that UK Government treats Scottish Government almost like a different department. I don’t think that’s been overly helpful.
“We just need to think about what is a better approach that catches up with where we are now, particularly when more powers have come to Scotland.”
A UK Government spokesperson said: “The Secretary of State for Scotland and his office play a vital role in ensuring Scotland’s voice is heard at the heart of Whitehall, and that the UK Government’s responsibilities and activities in Scotland are fully understood.”
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