Wendy Alexander today welcomed the appointment of Professor Sir Kenneth Calman as the chair of the new Scottish Parliament Commission to review the devolution settlement ten years on.

Ms Alexander said:

"I proposed a Commission to investigate how we make devolution work better in the UK last November, the initiative was endorsed by the Scottish Parliament last December and by the UK government in January this year and now a chair has been appointed.

"Professor Calman is a well respected and authoritative figure with the highest personal integrity. I am sure he will bring his experience and sound judgement to bear in his role as independent chair of the Scottish Parliament Commission.

"His appointment is a major step forward for the Commission and a sign that real progress is being made."
She added:

"Unlike the SNP's national conversation, the Commission has a genuine mandate from the Scottish Parliament and it enjoys real cross party support.

"With support for independence flatlining and the Scottish Government's national conversation purely an exercise in legitimising the SNP's breakaway agenda, it is the Scottish Parliament Commission that will seek to make devolution work better for Scotland as part of the United Kingdom.

"The vast majority of Scots want Scotland to walk tall but not walk out of the United Kingdom and it is the Scottish Parliament Commission that best reflects mainstream opinion in Scotland."

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