It’s time to address the Westminster Question, not the West Lothian one

The extremely modest terms of the West Lothian Commission were announced yesterday: “To consider how the House of Commons might deal with legislation which affects only part of the United Kingdom, following the devolution of certain legislative powers to the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the National Assembly for Wales.” Well, I’d like [...]

West Lothian Question: Don’t hold your breath waiting for an answer

We were told this week that the West Lothian Commission would finally begin its work in February 2012 and would report in spring 2013. But I would caution people not to expect any answer to be put into effect until after the next UK general election in 2015 at the earliest. There are two main [...]

The nightmare scenario: United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland

In answer to the speculation in my last post about what the new United Kingdom, following Scottish independence, would be called, maybe we’d be looking at the nightmare scenario of a ‘United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland’, instead of a possible ‘United Kingdom of England, Wales and Northern Ireland’. The Union establishment will do [...]

The constitutional morass of Scottish independence: is there ANY proper way of doing it?

There’s been something of a storm in a teacup brewing over the question of the legality or otherwise of an independence referendum legislated for by the Scottish parliament. For a summary of the legal and constitutional issues, see Alan Trench and Lalland’s Peat Worrier. From an English perspective, the crux of the matter, for me, [...]

UKIP adopts an English parliament policy: great news, but is it too late to save the Union?

I’m delighted that UKIP leader Nigel Farage announced on Friday that his party now supports the creation of an English parliament. In so doing, he’s almost certainly secured my vote at the next general election. And I’m sure that many thousands of other supporters of democratic fairness to England will now also switch their allegiances [...]

Support the e-petition for an English parliament

The UK government’s e-petition website went live last week. Under this system, if any petition obtains 100,000 signatures or more, it earns the right to be considered for debate in Parliament: it won’t necessarily actually be debated, but it will at least go up for consideration. Petition No. 78 reads: That England be given within [...]

36% of English people support independence – for England

A ComRes opinion poll commissioned by BBC Radio 4, published yesterday, found that 36% of the English-only people questioned felt that “England should become a fully independent country with its own government, separate from the rest of the United Kingdom”. By any account, this is an extraordinary finding. However, if all you had heard about [...]

Scottish independence: two referendums are required

What follows is the text of a comment I made today on an article by Gerry Hassan on the ‘Our Kingdom’ site arguing that only one referendum – the one promised by the SNP government in Holyrood – is required to determine whether the Scottish people are in favour of independence for their nation. I’m [...]

Thanks for promising to resolve the West Lothian Question, Mr Clegg: now can we see some delivery?

In the annals of quotes to hang politicians by, Nick Clegg let out a real whopper in his speech to the Commons yesterday on Lords reform. Remember this; record it; and wheel it out whenever you’re writing or speaking about the West Lothian Question – it’s a good one. Mr Clegg said, and I quote: [...]

The People’s Pledge: a demand for popular sovereignty

Imagine if May’s referendum on the Alternative Vote were a referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU. The media would be completely filled with the story, and we’d see the claims and counter-claims of the two sides in the argument being fired off in quick succession like a never-ending tennis rally. Compare that to [...]