Helen Liddell has left the cabinet

The Scottish National Party said it was "utterly extraordinary" that an unelected peer will now have cabinet responsibility for Scotland.

And the Scottish Socialists described the move as an "insult".

However, First Minister Jack McConnell defended the changes while paying tribute to Helen Liddell, who left the cabinet.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's reshuffle created a new department of Constitutional Affairs, which will replace the Scotland Office and the Wales Office.

Scotland has lost Stalin's granny and inherited Tony's crony - whose only previous claim to fame was to be minister for the disastrous London Dome Alex Salmond SNP Westminster leader

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling will speak on Scottish affairs in the House of Commons.

The new department will be headed by Lord Falconer, a childhood friend of the prime minister.

He was promoted to the Lords soon after Labour came to power in 1997 and took ministerial responsibility for the Millennium Dome after Peter Mandelson's first resignation.

Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy Sheridan said it was an insult to put an English lord in charge of Scotland.

"I didn't rate Helen Liddell, but at least she was a Scottish MP," he said.

"Lord Falconer's main claim to fame is that he shared a flat with Tony Blair.

"This reinforces the SSP's view that it is time that Scotland took charge of its own affairs as an independent socialist Scotland."

'Waste of resources'

The SNP's Westminster leader, Alex Salmond, described the reshuffle as "a dog's breakfast".

He said: "No-one will regret the departure of Helen Liddell and the Scotland Office, which was a vast waste of resources.

"But it is utterly extraordinary that an unelected peer will have cabinet responsibility for Scotland - the first time since Lord Rosebery was a caretaker Scottish Secretary for a few weeks in 1945.

With devolution in Scotland now in a second term, the time is right to further change arrangements at Westminster Jack McConnell First Minister

"Scotland has lost Stalin's granny and inherited Tony's crony - whose only previous claim to fame was to be minister for the disastrous London Dome."

He said all Westminster's powers over Scotland should be transferred to the Scottish Parliament.

Shadow Scottish Secretary Jacqui Lait said it was a sad day to see the end of the Scotland Office's "historic role".

She attacked the reshuffle as "an unsatisfactory botch job".

"It downgrades the interests of the people of Scotland, because there is a need for Scotland's affairs to be fully represented in the cabinet," she argued.

"There is also a potential conflict of interest for Alistair Darling when Scotland's transport needs conflict with those in the UK as a whole."

Close relationship

However, Mr McConnell said: "I strongly believe that this new arrangement is the right decision by the prime minister.

"With devolution in Scotland now in a second term, the time is right to further change arrangements at Westminster."

The first minister also thanked Mrs Liddell for a close working relationship over the last 18 months.