“There’s a vast, overwhelming majority of people in Scotland, regardless of political preference, who rather like the idea of the Westminster parliament being hung by a Scottish rope."However, the cavalry is racing towards us in their usual, last-minute dash: in an attempt to placate the English, the Conservatives have pledged to introduce a policy of “English votes for English laws” if they form the next UK government in an attempt to answer the West Lothian question. Last night they indicated that they would not countenance any formal arrangement with the SNP which would see Nationalist MPs voting on Enland-only matters.
The only satisfactory conclusion to this mess of devolution is for England to have her own Parliament but, as I've said before, all it will do is cement the break-up of the UK and deliver us, weakened, into the hands of the EU. Mind you, I did have a thought. Since it was the UK which signed up to the EU and the UK would no longer exist if Scotland was fully independent, wouldn't that mean that all existing treaties between the UK and the EU would be null and void? How can you have treaties between two parties, one of whom no longer exists? And how would the constitutional position of HM the Queen be affected? Would she still be Head of State and Queen of Scotland? There are so many constitutional anomalies to make it a political nightmare yet at the same time it seems an incredibly simple solution to the EU problem. I must be missing something.
Calling England
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the question of England having the right to walk away from the EU due to the break up of the Union has crossed my mind.
28 April 2010 at 00:03The Monarchy aspect is not a problem, there has been a shared monarch with an independent Scotland before. Her majesty is head of several countries, ie, Canada, and they go it alone.
This Barnett Formula needs sorting out and soon, what with Plaid Curry now asking for an extra £300 million when they get £1200 more spent on themselves per head than the Cornish.
Vendetta
England having her own Parliament is long overdue and it's a natural consequence of devolution elsewhere in the UK. The politicians can't be allowed to get away with a partial break-up and the inherent inequalities which would only be perpetuated if England became 'Regions'.
28 April 2010 at 09:54Plaid Cymru and the SNP have both said they'll overturn their ban on voting on English-only matters at Westminster if there's a hung parliament. That's a way to make the English even angrier and speed up the process of full devolution.
Politicians from the Lib/Lab/Con will still be reluctant to actually do anything effective though - it will still take boots on the street to convince them.
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