AKIPRESS.COM - Backbencher John Stevenson, MP for Carlisle, said that a potential constitutional crisis would loom if Scottish voters, having backed independence, were still allowed to vote at the next election, when they could determine which party governs the UK if the vote was close, Herald Scotland reported today.

“If there is a Yes vote, there would be major consequences for the rest of the country; they have to be considered. You can't have a situation where the government of the United Kingdom is determined by the representation from Scotland, which could then have significant influence in the subsequent negotiations,” Stevenson said. “Why should the government for 90% of the population be determined by a part of the UK that has just chosen to become a foreign country. That would potentially cause a constitutional crisis.”

He acknowledged that for 10 months between the referendum and March 2016, the date earmarked by First Minister Alex Salmond for independence to begin, the UK Government would, in large part, govern Scotland.

But he insisted the over-riding issue was the legitimacy of the next government in Whitehall and the interests of the rest of the UK.

Stevenson added that in the intergovernmental negotiations following any Yes vote the “Scottish Government through the Scottish Parliament should represent Scotland while the UK Government through the Westminster Parliament, without Scottish MPs, should represent the rest of the UK.”

It is widely acknowledged that a Yes vote in the independence referendum would have profound consequences for Westminster.

It would completely change the terms of reference of the 2015 General Election; Scots would not so much be voting for who would best govern them in London but who could get the best deal for Scotland in the post-referendum talks. Political parties south of the border would insert into their manifestos policies detailing how they would approach the constitutional divorce from Scotland.