Is English votes for English laws unworkable and does it put the Union at risk? Is the Barnett formula which gives Scotland more money than England sustainable? How they are answered will determine the Union of the future. I just want to discuss here the West Lothian question.
I am not a fan of a codified constitution and revel in the constitutional anomalies that exist. The system of devolution in the UK & NI is asymmetric, there is no common pattern to the responsibilities devolved to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland or that matter England. “Better an imperfect union than a broken one” said David Cameron yesterday.
If Scotland elected the same number of Labour and Conservative MPs toWestminster this would, to all intense and purposes, be a dead issue. Instead,Scotland returned 39 Labour MPs and 1 Conservative. If Labour cling on at the next election, thankfully unlikely, it is more than likely their Scottish MPs will be decisive.
Can a Government be formed that make policies on the key domestic issues but voted through by MPs not accountable to the electorate for their decisions e.g. tuition fees?
If we have English votes for English laws, the question is reversed and it becomes apparent the absurdity of a Government that could not pass legislation in relation toEngland on health, housing and education. Coincidentally the supposed issues of Gordon’s vision for his Labour Party.
If we had English votes on English laws the Commons becomes a mess. As the only democratically elected chamber in Westminster its role as a link to constituents, a legislature and the executive means it becomes a jack of all trades and master of none. A Government with a minority in England unable to control the Commons on the key domestic issues of the day would sideline it altogether and use for exampleStatutory Instruments to push through decisions.
The key to unlocking the debate is the future of the House of Lords where the West Lothian question is irrelevant. A fully elected, by PR, upper chamber would throw up as many constitutional questions as it does answers. But it would allow the Commons the political space to represent geographical interests that it can’t do whilst there is a wholly appointed upper chamber without a democratic mandate.
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I’ve always thought that the simplest way to resove the West Lothian Question would be to have Westminster MPs return to their country of origin to legislate for that country for a certain period of time each week. But this does of course raise the problem that you discuss of asymmetric devolution.
And of course the Barnett Formula… It’s not actually just about English taxpayers handing over money to Scotland – there’s funding for other parts of the UK as well (including England). It should, though, be far more responsive to local needs – ward by ward assessment would be much fairer.
aysmmetric devolution is no bad thing it just has to be reconciled with the institutions in Westminster.