Liberal Democrat peer Lord Nicol Stephen has accused a senior SNP MP of making false claims about promises made during the independence referendum campaign.
The former deputy first minister has urged Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil to correct the record at Westminster after he said the Vow on more powers for Holyrood called for full-fiscal autonomy – responsibility for raising all the money it spends.
Lord Stephen, ex-MSP for Aberdeen South, said the promise made by the Lib Dems, Tories and Labour in exchange for a “No” vote safeguarded the principles of pooling and sharing resources equitably across the UK, including the continuation of the Barnett funding formula.
in a letter to the MP, the former Lib Dem leader said: “I was disappointed to read your remarks during the Scotland Bill debate.
“On a number of occasions you claimed that the Vow included full-fiscal autonomy in its proposals.
“Nowhere in this commitment signed by the three party leaders can I find the words ‘full’ ‘fiscal’ or ‘autonomy’.
“Instead, there is a specific and clear commitment to continue the Barnett formula.
“The SNP’s plans for full-fiscal autonomy would scrap the Barnett formula and leave Scotland with over £7billion per year of cuts in services or increased taxes.
“Many Scots who voted to remain in the UK and now wish to see a stronger Scotland in the UK will be appalled by your attempts to rewrite history.”
Mr MacNeil, chairman of Westminster’s energy and climate change select committee, hit back and said the Vow promised extensive new powers for Holyrood to enable it to raise revenue and protect its budget.
“Lord Nicol Stephen’s ally in the No campaign, the prime minister, said on September 10 that if Scotland voted ‘No’ all options would be possible,” he added.
“As close to federalism as possible was the clear impression, which former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown also specifically promised.”
Mr MacNeil claimed the Scotland Bill fell far short of the powers promised to voters.
“As a supposedly federalist party, the Lib Dems should be pushing for more powers but their complete inability to do this highlights just one reason why they have been virtually wiped off the map,” he said.
“Giving the Scottish Parliament the ability to introduce full-fiscal autonomy would put the power to grow our economy and end austerity in Scotland’s hands, where it belongs.”