The Scottish government has used the referendum on the single market to rededicate itself and push for further devolution of welfare powers to the parliament at Holyrood in Edinburgh, laying before the Parliament a bill that would see a referendum held on whether the Scottish people agree to further devolution.Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Unionists, and the Classical Liberals have been highly critical of the first minister mg9500's push for further devolution.Within hours of the UK general election results, the Scottish government moved to receive the Scottish Parliament's backing for welfare devolution talks to be held. The Scottish government argued that the UK government "will and has repeatedly targeted welfare for the majority of cuts," alongside the fact that within it's 'Programme for Government', the Scottish government pledged to achieve the devolution of welfare powers.mg9500 received this backing, but not without a contentious debate.The new Scottish Conservative leader and leader of the opposition in Holyrood, VictoryKnight, has argued that they will oppose any further devolution."We, here in this nation, have a government which has done little but embarrass Scotland; the First Minister enjoys going on long, rambling speeches with little to no substance. I think even the most vehement supporters of devolution would like to see some progress from the Scottish Government before anything like this is considered. The First Minister and his Government seek to gain more power, without making any use of it; rather than whine, why not govern?"VictoryKnight also attacked the Scottish Labour, who he accused of backsliding on their Scottish parliamentary election manifesto."If I may read from the Labour Party manifesto - in which it is stated "all [further] devolution must be supported by a referendum" and that further devolution should not occur unless there is "clear desire" for it among the Scottish public. Can I assume that this is a change in Labour Party policy, ultimately conceding that Labour is unable to stand up for the Union?"This has been dismissed by Scottish Labour. IamJamieP, the cabinet secretary for education and culture, has said that "Labour has already shown, and will continue to show, support for the union between Scotland and the United Kingdom. Welfare devolution, we feel, is vital and necessary to allow us to make meaningful changes."Following the motion being passed, the UK government dismissed any possibility of devolution talks being held.The Scottish Secretary, Ruairidh_ , said that "no devolution of welfare powers from Westminster to Holyrood will take place under the current Government. However, if the First Minister wishes to delve into more detail on this issue the Prime Minister is willing to let him meet the secretary of state for Scotland to discuss the Government's position on devolution."As a response, mg9500 has laid down his welfare devolution referendum bill.Scottish Liberal Democrat cabinet secretary for the economy, TheNoHeart, has said that "the democratically elected Scottish Parliament voted in favour of devolving welfare responsibilities in Scotland to the Scottish Government in a previous motion." He has said that the government is putting the choice to the people of Scotland whether they would like to see further devolution."We recognise that no binding referendum can be held without the consent of the UK Parliament, but we ask that the UK Parliament respect the choice of the Scottish people should this referendum go forward. We respect democracy, and they should too."The Scottish Conservative leader has, however, hit back, demanding to know whether the Scottish government were aware that whilst parliament voted for "some vague idea of welfare devolution", it did not vote for any further devolution of taxes, which he points out was outlined in the first minister's speech regarding the motion's passage.

"We have just had a tremendous democratic exercise across Scotland, the Conservative Party won 3 of the 4 constituencies in Scotland at the recent General Election on a manifesto opposing further devolution of powers - in addition the Labour Party opposed further devolution of powers and opposed any referendum being held on the issue unless there was evidence that there had been a significant change in opinion in their election manifesto, from the election result it's pretty clear no such change has occurred."