DAVID Cameron has been accused by the SNP of a "total dereliction of duty" for not leading today's set-piece six-hour Commons debate on devolution following the Scottish independence referendum.
The criticism came as the Nationalists were warned they would pay a heavy price at the polls if they did not engage with the Smith Commission on more powers for Holyrood in good faith, but rather sought to get independence "through the back door".
The fiery exchanges at Westminster came as representatives from the political parties prepare to meet Lord Smith of Kelvin in Edinburgh on Thursday to begin trying to reach a consensus on what extra powers should be devolved to Scotland in light of the No vote.
As the UK Government published a command paper setting out its broad commitment to give Holyrood more powers and explaining the positions of the political parties, Alistair Carmichael told MPs the plan to produce detailed draft legislation by Burns Night would not slip.
"The decision of the people of Scotland was clear: they voted to continue to be part of the family of nations," said the Scottish Secretary. "They voted to continue to work alongside people in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and they voted for us all to remain together as a United Kingdom.
"It is important everyone now accepts the result. We should all move on from being part of being the 55 per cent or the 45 per cent to working for 100 per cent of the people in Scotland."
Margaret Curran, his Labour Shadow, said the Scottish people had voted for "pooling and sharing resources across the United Kingdom" and a stronger Scottish Parliament. The referendum vote confirmed devolution was the settled will of the Scottish people.
Pete Wishart for the SNP called the referendum a transformational event that energised Scotland.
The Perth MP pointed out polls had shown two-thirds of Scots wanted devo-max while three-quarters wanted all tax devolved to Holyrood. "It might be a command paper," said Mr Wishart, "but the people in charge of this process are the Scottish people themselves and we will be judged by their good judgement and what they want for their future."
Mr Carmichael welcomed the participation of the SNP in the Smith Commission process and hoped it was being done in good faith, but warned the Nationalist backbencher: "He should take heed of the 61.9 per cent of his own area who voted to remain part of the UK. If he tries to subvert the Smith process by getting independence through the back door, as others have said, then he will pay a heavy price for that."
Outside the chamber, Mr Wishart was scathing about the PM's decision not to take part in today's debate. "It's a total dereliction of duty," he said. "He has not got the courage to look people in the eye and say the vow on more powers will be honoured without conditions."
Mr Wishart predicted Commons exchanges this afternoon would be dominated by English MPs talking about English votes for English laws, at which "the people of Scotland will be appalled and horrified".
Earlier, No 10 called it the "right approach" for William Hague, the Commons Leader, to lead today's debate as he chaired the Cabinet Committee on devolution.
Tory MP Bernard Jenkin described the referendum as a "near-death experience" and said if the country was to avoid another referendum, the tone of debate had to be raised to develop mutual respect and give "less opportunity for the Nationalists to make mischief".
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