Council of Nations & Regions

Protecting Scotland's Soveriegnty

In 2022 Gordon Brown produced for the Labour Party a report on constitutional reform, a major part would be the "Council of the Nations and Regions" which would include the Prime Minister, the heads of the three devolved administrations, and be joined by the Mayor of London and the elected metro mayors of combined authorities in England.

This was incorporated into the Labour party’s manifesto for the Westminster 2024 election and was then bought into effect by the new Labour Government.

The first meeting was in Edinburgh on the 11th of October when the Prime Minister of the UK, and the 12 Mayors from England attended along with the First Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland.

ALBA notes with concern that this is an attempt by the Government of Westminster to undermine Scotland’s historic claim to be an ancient and sovereign nation and to reduce the ancient and noble Nation of Scotland to be the equivalent of an English combined authority mayoralty.

It also attempts to bypass the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament and to equate the First Minister of Scotland to the level of a English Major.

Equally concerning is that the current Scottish Government and First Minister have enthusiastically embraced this slight and insult to the Scottish Nation, the Scottish People and the Scottish Parliament.

As Alex Salmond said:

“It is designed to diminish the status of our Parliament and the First Minister. Part of becoming independent is about thinking independently, not subserviently. John should have politely declined the meeting with the words “Scotland is a country not a county”.

We would suggest that the Prime Minister of the UK should shut this abomination of a council down, but we do not believe that there is any possibility that Westminster will stop its attempts to undermine devolution and to always remind the Scottish People and Scottish Parliament that Westminster rules.

ALBA recognises that is only one course of action that can and must be taken. Therefore, conference calls on the First Minister of Scotland to refuse any further invitations to attend the Council of the Nations and Regions and to make it clear that any discussions between the First Minister of Scotland and the Prime Minister of the UK should be on either a bilateral basis or within a meeting comprised only of the heads of all four national governments in the UK.