British troops, one-third of the total strength of the Army's land forces, were deployed to assist with the invasion of Iraq and thereafter British armed forces were responsible for security in southern Iraq. All British forces were withdrawn in 2010. The Labour Party Prime Minister Tony Blair won the 2005 British general election and a third consecutive term. On 7 July 2005, a series of four suicide bombings struck London, killing 52 commuters along with the four bombers, and injuring hundreds of others. Nationalist governments in Scotland Following the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) won their first every victory. They formed a minority government with plans to hold a referendum before 2011 to seek a mandate "to negotiate with the Government of the United Kingdom to achieve independence for Scotland." Unionist parties responded by establishing the Calman Commission to examine further devolution of powers, a position that had the support of the Prime Minister. Responding to the findings of the review, the UK government issued a white paper in November 2009, on new powers that would be devolved to the Scottish Government, notably on how it can raise tax and carry out capital borrowing, and the running of Scottish Parliament elections. The proposal was criticised by the UK parliament opposition parties for not proposing to implement any changes before the next general election. Scottish Constitution Minister Michael Russell criticised the white paper, calling it "flimsy" and stating that their proposed Referendum (Scotland) Bill, 2010, whose own white paper was to be published five days later, would be "more substantial". According to The Independent, the Calman Review white paper proposals fall short of what would normally be seen as requiring a referendum. These proposals would ultimately form the basis of the Scotland Act 2012. The 2011 election saw a decisive victory for the SNP which was able to form a majority government intent on delivering a referendum on independence. Within hours of the victory, Prime Minister David Cameron guaranteed that the UK government would not put any legal or political obstacles in the way of such a referendum. 2014 Scottish Independence referendum On 18 September 2014, a referendum was held in Scotland on whether to leave the United Kingdom and become an independent country. The three UK-wide political parties—Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats—campaigned together as part of the Better Together campaign while the pro-independence Scottish National