Download or read book Scotland's constitutional future written by Great Britain: Scotland Office and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2012-01-10 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This consultation document discusses how to deliver a referendum that is legal, fair and decisive. The Scottish Government is aware of the limits of its powers. It acknowledged those limits in 2007. Since the Scottish National Party's success in May 2011, the Scottish Government has provided no new explanation of how it would deliver its manifesto commitment to hold a referendum, despite the limits to its power. The UK Government has therefore considered the proposals put forward by the Scottish Government in February 2010 but those cannot be legally delivered by the Scottish Parliament. The UK Government does not believe that Scotland's constitutional future should be decided in court. The referendum must be legally watertight and that can only be provided by legislation involving the UK Parliament although this can be done in different ways. For the referendum to be fair as well as legal it should be overseen by those who have both the demonstrable neutrality and proven expertise. Finally, for the referendum to be also decisive, it is the UK Government's view that there must be a single, straightforward question; and that question must be asked as soon as possible