Labour leader Iain Gray yesterday warned that the greatest beneficiaries of devolution may not be the Scottish people.
He said there is a danger that the winners would be some of the “elite” figures in government and politics.
Mr Gray said Holyrood was too “inward looking and incestuous” and MSPs needed to spend more time talking about issues that really matter to people.
He said Scottish politics must move away from one of identity and towards the politics of values to help people let down by the system.
The MSP said the parliament only properly addressed child protection issues following the death of Dundee toddler Brandon Muir. Mr Gray made the remarks during a speech at Edinburgh University.
He accused the minority SNP Government of not using the Scottish Parliament to govern but as a “platform” for their campaign to break up the United Kingdom.
The Labour leader also poured scorn on Alex Salmond’s independence referendum bill white paper which was launched on Monday which he says should offer a straight yes or no option.
Western Isles SNP MSP Alasdair Allan hit back by challenging Mr Gray to join the “clear Labour consensus” in Wales in supporting a referendum on new powers for the assembly and in London for electoral reforms in the next 12 months.
“If the timing is right for Wales and the UK, how can it be wrong in Scotland?” he asked. “Labour’s position is inconsistent and untenable.”
Reflecting on the first 10 years of the Scottish Parliament, Mr Gray said: “If we are not careful, there is a danger that the greatest beneficiaries of devolution may not be the Scottish people, but rather some of the elite around government, governance and politics. But we are a small country and sometimes it seems to me that we have created an even smaller community around our young parliament. Competition of ideas may be stifled by a culture that is too inward-looking and incestuous.”
Mr Gray said Labour was not opposed to an independence referendum in principle but it should only be held at a time that was “right”, once the recession was over.
A spokesman for Mr Salmond said: “The best Labour can do is play silly games inside the Holyrood bubble, while the SNP are getting on with the serious business of government.
“On a referendum, Labour are split all across the UK.
“Only in Scotland, thanks to Iain Gray, are Labour refusing to let the people speak on the country’s constitutional future.”