Michael Forsyth, Baron Forsyth of Drumlean

The most articulate opponent. As Conservative Scottish Secretary from 1995, Forsyth argued that a parliament would be a 'slippery slope' to independence and campaigned for the 'tartan tax' warning, which forced Labour to add a separate referendum question on tax-varying powers. He also tried to defuse demand by returning the Stone of Destiny to Scotland in 1996 and giving the Scottish Grand Committee more work. The Conservatives lost every Scottish seat in 1997, and his warnings shaped the referendum design rather than the outcome.