Kennedy and Scotland Sir: In publishing Mr Ludovic Kennedy's exposition
of the case for an independent Scotland you have given cause for gratitude to us all—not least to Scottish Conservatives who are meeting in conference at Perth. For Mr Kennedy has shown that there are, 'along the slippery slope', only two real possibilities from which to choose: either the maintenance of the Union, or separation into complete Independence.
He has clearly demonstrated that 'Devolution' is a road with but one destination, however many and various may be the temporary staging posts for those who travel along it. An independent Scottish Assembly, a directly elected Assembly, increased powers for such an Assembly—even some sort of Federal system; none will prove permanent; all must lead in the end to Independence.
In this I believe Mr Kennedy to be right. Therefore, before any final decision of the fate of the Union can be reached, it is essential to discover what is the real nature of Scottish Nationalist support. Mr Kennedy believes that it arises from a growing sense of Scottish national identity, burgeoning with such speed and strength that it can never be fulfilled within the United Kingdom.
If he is right, and it becomes clear that the Scottish people really do want to go their own way, then no Party can, or should seek to, stand in their way. But I believe that in this Mr Kennedy is wrong: both because he sees an independent Scotland as essentially Republican, and because the Conservative Party in Scotland has always been the only Unionist party recognising the national pride and aspirations of Scotland within the Union as well as the important part played by so many Scotsmen and Scotswomen in making the United Kingdom a living reality.
The Conservative Party as a whole has a clear duty to give a positive lead in the national interest; for the Scottish electorate have the right to express their real wishes. Since all the other Parties are determined to appease the separatists, only the Conservative Party in Scotland can give them the opportunity so to do. Conservatives should proclaim that we are still the only Unionist party and campaign against the weakening of the Union by a directly elected Scottish Assembly. At the same time we should announce our determination to overcome the problem of alienation: both directly by reducing as soon as possible the amount taken from people in taxation and spent by the Government for its own purposes; and indirectly by reassert
ing the control of the bureaucracy by the House of Commons.
We should also seek to give all the people of the United Kingdom greater scope to exert effective pressure on the whole apparatus of the state through administrative reforms designed to meet the needs and aspirations of the different nations, peoples and regions within the Realm. Then the Scottish people can decide whether they want independence, or whether they simply want more responsive and relevant, but less extensive, government.
I hope that when they come to vote, Scottish Conservatives will recollect that a directly elected Assembly will inevitably be permanently Socialist and probably Republican: and, equally important, will consider Mr Ludovic Kennedy's message: that there is no place for any other form of 'Devolution', but only for Independence.
Maurice Macmillan House of Commons, London SW1
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