Thursday, February 22, 2007
The West Lothian Question
I would introduce legislation to only allow English MPs to vote on laws that only concern England.
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About Me
- James E
- 33, liberal free-market Atlanticist, monarchist, political enthusiast, blogger, website builder, bon viveur, skier, film watcher, man of Kent, Old Harrovian, Durham University alumnus, master of engineering, son of London, kit car builder, yogi, iPod Touch aficionado, iPhone communicator, ex-public sector leech, consulting monkey. All round slacker.
1 comment:
PH is right that this raises as many problems as it solves. The prospect that a Prime Minister might have a majority on British issues but a minority on English issues is unworkable.
I don't go with his solution, though. It seems to me that we either have to walk away from devolution, or go for full independence. I'd rather we restored the Union proper, but only by consent of the Scots and the Welsh (NI is a whole other kettle of fish). Assuming they wouldn't consent to that (a safe bet, at least in Scotland, at the moment), full independence would be better than the festering racial resentment that can build, Yugoslavia-style, from a policy of ignoring people's sense that people on the other side of the fence are getting a better deal.
Of course, if government were much smaller, it would matter less. But there's not much prospect of shrinking the state while we stick with the status quo - the overrepresentation of Scots and Welsh in the UK parliament.
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