Those who can’t break the law shouldn’t make the law

So it looks as though some form of lifting of the ban on UK prisoners voting in elections will effectively be imposed on the UK by the European Court of Justice. However, what I’m wondering is whether any eventual legislation allowing this would create a legal precedent for banning non-English-elected MPs from voting on English [...]

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 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, [...]

Comment about John Major’s speech from the IfG blog

Following the censorship of a comment of mine about Englishness on the Labour Hame website, here is another comment that’s been stuck in the limbo of ‘awaiting moderation’ for several days. It refers to an article on the Institute for Government website discussing John Major’s recent contribution to the Scottish devolution max versus independence debate. [...]

John Major’s devolution endgame points towards full federalism

Former prime minister Sir John Major has made a suggestion about how to mitigate the risk of Scottish independence. This is basically that Scotland should be granted ‘devolution max’: the maximum degree of devolution that stops short of actual independence. In practice, this would mean devolving responsibility for everything except “foreign policy, defence and management [...]

The ‘English Majority Lock’ (EML): A simple solution to the West Lothian Question

Many questions that appear intractable often admit of a simple solution if you can find a better way of posing the question. The West Lothian Question is one such conundrum. In its original form, in the parliamentary question raised by MP Tam Dalyell in 1977, it asks: “For how long will English constituencies and English [...]

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: [...]

Can we expect more progress on the WLQ Commission after the Scottish and Welsh elections?

Doh! It suddenly struck me that that must be the reason – or at least one of the main reasons – why the Con-Dem government has been so cagey about the timing of the promised Commission to look into the West Lothian Question: they don’t want to give Labour and the Nationalists in Scotland and [...]

DPEV: absolutely the best single-member voting system for the UK and England – honest

OK, I admit it: I’m a voting-system geek, if not obsessive. I really dislike AV, for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it leaves England short-changed: nothing done to address the West Lothian Question or the broader English Question, to say nothing about the unaccountable nature of executive power in [...]