The Green Ribbon

Conservatives on England

In relation to England, the Conservative Manifesto reiterates the policy of English votes for English laws.

Now that exclusively Scottish matters are decided by the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, exclusively English matters should be decided in Westminster without the votes of MPs sitting for Scottish constituencies who are not accountable to English voters. We will act to ensure that English laws are decided by English votes.

The problems with this proposal are well known. A Government might have a working majority on English issues but not on British issues, or vice-versa. There’s also the problem of working out what are ‘English Laws.’

The only consistent solution is an English Parliament and executive with defined powers, similar to the Scottish Parliament.

The Tories say nothing about the anomaly whereby Scottish MPs can be appointed as Ministers to Departments whose responsibilities do not include Scotland. Perhaps they plan to resolve this by not having any Scottish MPs.

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TomGriffin

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One response to “Conservatives on England”

  1. Gareth avatar
    Gareth

    Maybe that anomally will resolve itself. Excluding all non-English members will, in effect, mean that the pre-1707 English parliament has been reconvened (it was never formally abolished, it just ceased sitting) as long as a majority of English MPs state that it is so.
    It is already impossible for Scottish members to hold Executive positions with any moral authority. If the Tory proposals were implemented it would be impossible for the likes of John Reid and Alistair Darling to vote on issues that pertain to their departments. Furthermore, the Prime Minister himself, if it is to become Gordon Brown, would be excluded from the chamber for all English house-keeping legislation.
    By defect the Tory proposals suggest an all English (and possibly Welsh) exeutive for the UK. As the CEP have always said the only stable way to secure a future for the UK is to make all four home nations constitutionally equal. However, if the Conservative want to swrench us asunder in this manner then I personally will raise no objection.

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