Tories Consider Blocking Welsh, Scottish Votes
By GulfStreamBlues on Tuesday, July 1 2008, 11:48 - Permalink
Quite a conundrum now affects the United Kingdgdom, ten years after devolution first gave constituent countries their own parliaments. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all now have their own seperate governments, legislating on matters that affect only their territory. But England, the constituent country where the vast majority of British people live, doesn't have such a local legislative body.
The
result is that the national parliament in Westminster still makes the
decisions that affect only England, but doesn't make decisions that
affect only Scotland or Wales. And since the national parliament has
elected representatives from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, this
means that in theory the people in those areas have more
representational power. Scots get a say in local decisions in England,
but the English don't get a say in local decisions in Scotland.
It
might seem that the natural solution would be to give England a local
government. But there is very little support for this among the
population. There have been attempts to start local elected assembleys
for different regions of England, but after the first one attempted was
voted down in a local referendum in the North East in 2004, all the
other plans were abandoned. The only area in England with a local
government now remains London.
Today the Conservatives will unveiled a plan
that will attempt to fix the problem in a different way. They will
propose a new policy that will prevent Welsh and Scottish MPs from completely voting
on matters that affect only England. David Cameron, who may be the next
prime minister of the UK, is said to be receptive to the idea.
Comments
I think England should get it's own Parliament. Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish MPs should not have a say in English issues. Wales and Northern Ireland should also have their Assemblies upgraded to Parliaments on the lines of the Scottish model as, at the moment, it takes too long to pass a law (around 9 months); in Scotland it is much quicker. I also think that Cornwall should have it's own Assembly or Parliament since it voted for one and it is one of the six Celtic nations with its own culture, flag and language.