TORY Murdo Fraser has called for the House of Lords to be abolished after Brexit.

In a new report, arguing for a what he describes as a “quasi-federal settlement,” the MSP argues that there should instead be a Senate representing the different parts of the UK.

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Fraser, the Scottish Tory finance spokesman, admits “defending the current unbalanced and unwieldy arrangements are not in the long term interests of those who wish to see the UK stay together.”

The SNP said the paper, Our still United Kingdom, published by right-wing thinktank, Bright Blue Scotland, was an admission from the Tory about rising support for independence.

Writing in the report, Fraser said: “With nationalists in different parts of the United Kingdom seeking to use Brexit uncertainty for their own political ends, it is important that unionists have a coherent response.

“Introducing a UK-wide Senate delivers the long-awaited and overdue reform of the House of Lords, giving a better balance to the UK constitution and protecting the interests of the nations and regions furthest from London.

“A new quasi-federal settlement can mitigate concerns that exist in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and also are growing in many parts of England, about an over-centralised state where, despite asymmetric devolution over a period of two decades, there is still pressure for more power to be passed down from the centre.”

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This new Senate, or Upper House, he says, should be predominantly, if not entirely, elected.

Fraser says this Senate would “represent different parts of the United Kingdom, providing the requisite political balance and the appropriate counterweight to the House of Commons, with its own electoral mandate.

“Hereditary peers and bishops, historical anachronisms if ever there were, should be removed.

“The new upper house should fulfil the role of a revising chamber, not a challenge to the House of Commons, and of necessity much smaller in size, but providing representation from the constituent parts of the United Kingdom, including (assuming there were demand) the different regions of England.”

The National: The SNP's Tom Arthur said the call showed the Tories were rattledThe SNP's Tom Arthur said the call showed the Tories were rattled

Fraser’s report also calls for a new UK Council of Ministers to replace the existing Joint Ministerial Committee system, it says, with a need for England to have representatives elected by an English Grand Committee.

The Tory warns his colleagues in London that “we will face these challenges sooner than we think.”

He adds:” And with nationalists in different parts of the United Kingdom seeking to use Brexit uncertainty for their own political ends, it is important that unionists have a coherent response.

“So it is time to reform our government structures to create a ‘quasi-federal’ United Kingdom. A failure to change may make the pressures pushing our four nations apart irresistible.”

The SNP MSP Tom Arthur said: “Even the Scottish Tories now admit that support for independence is on the rise because of the way Scotland has been utterly ignored throughout the Brexit process.

“That trend is only set to increase because the UK Tory Government has shown absolutely no sign it is prepared to listen to Scotland.”

“Instead, they arrogantly insist that they know best, proposing to drag us out of Europe against our will, doing huge damage to jobs, public services and our economy.

“Murdo Fraser’s comments show that the Scottish Tories are rattled – they are running scared of independence because they know that recent experience of a broken Westminster system will only lead more people to support Scotland taking its own decisions.”