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Welcome sea change in policy towards our marine environment

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Published Date: 28 November 2008
By ANN McKECHIN MP
Under Secretary of State at the Scotland Office
THE past 18 months have seen a great number of stories in the media about so-called "spats" between Westminster and Holyrood.
It's an easy – if not entirely accurate – portrayal of devolved politics.

News that the UK government and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have reached agreement on a UK-wide approach to marine planning is, howe...



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  • Last Updated: 27 November 2008 9:07 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Sierra Foothills Scot,

Diamond Springs 28/11/2008 04:01:49
It would be a very "welcome sea change in policy towards our marine environment" if the esteemed Under Secretary of State at the Scotland Office would demand the retraction of Statutory Instrument 1999 No. 1126, purported to be Constitutional Law and entitled 'The Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999'. That order moved the Scottish North Sea Border from the mouth of the Tweed northward and put 600 square miles of Scotland's sea under "UK" (ie "English") control.

This order was approved without public disclosure by the Lab-Lib Scottish executive and never debated in the UK Parliament. When questioned about the reasons for the order, a UK government spokesman said an explanation would not be in the public interest.
2

Dr. James Wilkie,

Vienna 28/11/2008 15:08:11
#1 I entirely agree. I have checked the coordinates given in the 1999 Order in Council, and those for the North Sea are entirely erroneous. The starting point is taken from the administrative boundary of the Berwick enclave where it meets the coast near Lamberton, whereas the constitutional border is the mouth of the River Tweed.

That was laid down by the Treaty of York and it has never been altered to this day. Up to 1999 the border between the Scottish and English marine jurisdictions was always held to be a line drawn eastwards from Berwick, as fishers from both countries will testify. This purported and wholly arbitrary change will never be accepted by Scotland, and it would be in everyone's interest if the Order in question were quietly "lost" before it comes to an open breach before the international authorities.

Mind you, the matter would be resolved for good if the mediaeval anachronism of the English administration were to be removed from the Berwick enclave, which has never ceased to be part of Scotland.


 

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