Lord Sewel - the architect of the Sewel Convention

One of the most disappointing features of the current Scottish Parliament is its bastardised use of the Sewel Convention in order to avoid any hint of controversy. It is worth noting the definition from the House of Lords in order to clarify the purpose of the Sewel Convention before proceding further:

" While the UK Parliament is legally capable of legislating for Scotland in any field notwithstanding devolution, Lord Sewel announced to the House of Lords on 21 July 1998 that the UK Government "would expect a convention to be established that Westminster would not normally legislate with regard to devolved matters in Scotland without the consent of the Scottish Parliament".

It is quite clear from this definition that the Sewel Convention was designed as a mechanism whereby the Westminster Parliament would seek the consent of the Scottish Parliament before passing legislation that impinged on devolved matters in Scotland.

However, the Convention is being used for a quite different purpose by the bunch of eejits currently ensconsed in the Parly.

In order to avoid potentially negative publicity on any matter that has a whiff of controversy, the Scottish Executive, under the pretence that it is a proper use of the instrument, uses a Sewel Motion to pass authority for the legislation to Westminster. This means that there is no debate on the legislation in the Scottish Parliament and deprives the Scottish people of any opportunity to hear what their elected representatives think on some of the most important subjects of the day.

Firstfoot proposes that the convention should be renamed the "Sewage Motion", because it's used to pass all the real shit to Westminster.

For the record, here is a list of all the Sewel Motions approved by the Scottish Parliament:

Act	Civil Contingencies Bill
Proposed by	Cathy Jamieson
Date	March 2004
Act	Investigations and Community Enterprise
Proposed by	Ms Margaret Curran
Date	March 2004
Act	Justice (Northern Ireland)
Proposed by	Cathy Jamieson
Date	March 2004
Act	Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.)
Proposed by	Cathy Jamieson
Date	February 2004
Act	Gender Recognition Bill
Proposed by	Cathy Jamieson
Date	February 2004
Act	Energy Bill
Proposed by	Rt Hon Jim Wallace
Date	February 2004
Act	Higher Education Bill
Proposed by	Rt Hon Jim Wallace
Date	February 2004
Act	Health Protection Agency Bill
Proposed by	Malcolm Chisholm
Date	January 2004
Act	Planning and Compulsory Purchase
Proposed by	Ms Margaret Curran
Date	November 2003
Act	Criminal Justice Bill
Proposed by	Hugh Henry
Date	October 2003
Act	Health and Social Care
Proposed by	Malcolm Chisholm
Date	June 2003
Act	Fireworks Bill
Proposed by	Mr Andy Kerr
Date	June 2003
Act	Railways and Transport Safety
Proposed by	Iain Gray
Date	March 2003
Act	Sexual Offences Bill
Proposed by	Mr Jim Wallace
Date	March 2003
Act	Local Government Bill
Proposed by	Mr Andy Kerr
Date	February 2003
Purpose of Act
Act	Criminal Justice Bill
Proposed by	Mr Jim Wallace
Date	December 2002
Act	Crime (International Co-operation)
Proposed by	Mr Jim Wallace
Date	December 2002
Act	Waste and Emissions Trading
Proposed by	Allan Wilson
Date	November 2002
Act	Extradition Bill
Proposed by	Mr Jim Wallace
Date	November 2002
Act	Police Reform Bill
Proposed by	Mr Jim Wallace
Date	June 2002
Act	Private Hire Vehicles
Proposed by	Mr Andy Kerr
Date	June 2002
Act	Enterprise Bill
Proposed by	Mr Jim Wallace
Date	April 2002
Act	Adoption and Children Bill
Proposed by	Cathy Jamieson
Date	January 2002
Act	NHS Reform and Health Care Professions
Proposed by	Susan Deacon
Date	November 2001
Act	Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security
Proposed by	Mr Jim Wallace
Date	November 2001
Act	Armed Forces Bill
Proposed by	Mr Jim Wallace
Date	March 2001
Act	International Development Bill
Proposed by	Susan Deacon
Date	March 2001
Act	Culture and Recreation
Proposed by	Allan Wilson
Date	March 2001
Act	Outworking Bill
Proposed by	Mr Alasdair Morrison
Date	January 2001
Act	Health and Social Care Bill
Proposed by	Malcolm Chisholm
Date	January 2001
Act	International Criminal Court
Proposed by	Mr Jim Wallace
Date	January 2001
Act	Tobacco Advertising and Promotions
Proposed by	Malcolm Chisholm
Date	January 2001
Act	Criminal Justice and Court Services
Proposed by	Mr Jim Wallace
Date	October 2000
Act	Regulation of Investigatory Powers
Proposed by	Mr Jim Wallace (
Date	April 2000

With grateful thanks to Graham, a friend of FirstFoot's, who provided the research for this article.