 Presiding officer George Reid (right) welcomes Lord Kinnock |
Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock has launched Scotland's first festival of Politics at the Scottish Parliament. Lord Kinnock told an audience in the Scottish Parliament that he feared devolution would lead to hostility between Scotland and its neighbours.
He said he worried that it may lead to the break-up of the United Kingdom.
He shared the billing with actress Vanessa Redgrave in an attempt to demonstrate the festival's theme that politics was for everyone.
During his speech, Lord Kinnock said he was not against decentralisation but warned the fragmentation of Britain could breed "enmity".
He added: "Unless there is a general pattern of decentralisation throughout the whole of the United Kingdom, the possibility of tensions, misunderstandings, even antagonisms between the different parts of the United Kingdom, continues."
Other sessions at the festival will feature the BBC's outgoing political editor Andrew Marr and film producer David Puttnam.
Issues to be discussed range from The Death and Reinvention of Scotland to What has Devolution Done for Animals.
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