What Is The English
Question:
- Due to devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the English question was created.
- “How should England be governed?”. Concerns that England have not been recognised fully within the post-devolution UK
- An English Parliament, EVFEL and an elected regional assembly are ways this is being done but some want more
Arguments For And
Against An English Parliament:
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For:
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Against:
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It would complete
devolution within the UK and resolve the English question by
giving England it’s own Parliament
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Creates an additional layer
of government and creates tensions between the UK government and
English Parliament. Also expensive to do this |
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Creates a more coherent
system of devolution with a federal UK parliament and government
responsible for UK wide issues |
‘Devolution all round’
would not create a coherent and equitable system because England
is a bigger place than the other devolved places |
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Would give political and
institutional expression to the English identity and interest |
There is limited support in
England for an English Parliament.
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What
Is West Lothian Question:
- “Why should Scottish MPs be able to vote in Westminster when English MPs cannot vote on matters in the Scottish Parliament”
The
Thinking Behind English Votes For English Matters:
- There are very few cases in which without Scottish MPs it would come into legislation e.g tuition fees
- By allowing it, it would introduce special procedures in the HOCs for dealing with legislation that only affects England
- In 2013, it was argued that parliamentary procedures should be put into place so that a majority of English MPs is needed to pass legislation which only affects England
- David Cameron then stated that further devolution in Scotland must be accompanied by EVFEL
- In Oct 2015, MPs voted to amend the Standing Orders Of The House in which a new ‘double veto’ would be placed where the speaker would judge which bills are English and which aren’t.
- Then an additional process in which English MPs can veto bills or amend them but this would mean that the bills would require Parliamentary support and so, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales could essentially amend of block bills at the third reading
- First used in Jan 2016 for the Housing And Planning Bill
- Arguments that: By allowing EVFEL, if public spending went down due to EVFEL It would affect the rest of the UK; it would create a band of MPs who are English and those who are not and finally, it would require a majority in England which itself has not happened since 1945 but a government with a small majority would struggle.
Elected
Regional Assemblies:
- Blair governments created directly elected regional assemblies with limited executive functions in the eight English regions outside London.
- Plans were dropped when a referendum said that 74% of people did not want a North-East assembly
Arguments For And
Against A Regional Assembly:
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For:
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Against:
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Would bring decision making
closer to the people and address the differing interest of a
region |
Few areas of England have a
strong sense of regional identity |
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Would create a more
balanced devolution settlement within the UK because England is
too large to have it’s own Parliament |
Would break up England and
fail to provide expression for English interests and identity |
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Would enhance democracy as
regional assemblies would take over the functions of the unelected
quangos
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Would be tensions between
the regional and local government |
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Areas such as Cornwall and
Yorkshire and the northeast have a strong sense of regional
identity |
Would be dominated by urban
rather than rural interests |
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A regional assembly could
act as a catalyst for economic and cultural regeneration |
Little public support for
creating a regional layer of government in England.
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