English Votes on English Laws

Dear Democracy Task Force,

in response to Lord Falconer's outrageous comments regarding an English parliament your shadow Constitutional Affairs Secretary, Oliver Heald, has been offering English Votes on English Matters (EVoEM) as the solution - he did so in the very same radio broadcast as Lord Falconer.

Anne Widdecombe also stated EVoEM as the solution on Radio Four's Any Questions just last week.

But despite the fact that it has been Conservative policy in the last two general elections, and despite the fact that the Conservatives roll out EVoEM as the answer to any discussion on the West Lothian Question, the people in David Cameron's Office are unable to answer my questions on EVoEM because:

"Given how little time has gone by since David took over as Leader it would be much too soon for us to have reached definite conclusions about what we plan to do.

We plan to take some time to work out how best to tackle this issue - Which is why David Cameron has set up the Democracy Task Force."

They suggested that I submit the questions to you for your consideration. So here goes....

1. English Votes on English Matters would prevent Scots voting on English legislation but it would not prevent England being ruled in its entirety by the UK Government, and potentially that UK government would be unable to legislate for 85% of the UK (England) because it would be without an English majority. Could this render the UK ungovernable?

2. English Votes on English Matters would mean a sovereign UK parliament comprising only English MPs rather than a devolved parliament that was subordinate to the UK parliament - as English legislation has a knock-on effect on Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (particularly in terms of funding) don't you think that this is a retrograde step that would be opposed by constitutionalists in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

3. Was the English parliament of 1707 actually scrapped or merely put into abeyance? (I ask because I'm really not sure) The Act of Union 1707 states: That the United Kingdom of Great Britain be represented by one and the same Parliament, to be styled the Parliament of Great Britain. Will EVoEM reconvene the 1707 English parliament?

4. Under EVoEM a Scottish Prime Minister (for example Gordon Brown) would be excluded from the majority of legislation in the House given that he is democratically unaccountable to the English nation on devolved matters, and devoid of responsibility to his own Scottish electorate on the concomitant Scottish legislation. Do you accept that you would be creating a situation in which it would be very difficult for anyone other than an English constituency MP to have the necessary authority to be PM?

5. If the Tories were the largest party in an EVoEMs parliament but Labour were the UK Government would you expect Labour Ministers to preside over departments that the Labour Party were unable to implement legislation for, or would Tory MPs head up English ministries and form part of a Labour government's UK executive?

6. Under English Votes on English Matters the House of Lords will still be able to scrutinise English legislation but not that of the devolved administrations. Why should Neil Kinnock have any say on English legislation?

7. EVoEM is just a procedural change rather than a constitutional one, so an incoming Labour government, most probably dominated by Scots and Welsh MPs, could just scrap it. Why should the English people be satisfied with that state of affairs? More to the point, why should they be satisfied with anything less than what Scotland has?

8. Under English Votes on English Matters there is nothing to stop non-English constituency MPs becoming ministers of English departments. So Scottish MPs (like Darling and Reid) can be in charge of English portfolios. Why should a Scottish MP should be barred from voting on education bills and allowed to head up the Department of Education?

9. Under English Votes on English Matters will there be an English First Minister and 'English Questions'. If not then it could mean that a Scottish Prime Minister would have to field questions from the opposition benches on legislation that he was unable to vote on, and that his government was, potentially, unable to legislate for. This doesn't make any sense. Would the EVoEM 'parliament' have a leader of the English House, potentially drawn from the ranks of the opposition benches?

10. Conservative plans are to allow the Speaker of the House to designate what is 'English-only legislation'. However, the Speaker's decision on what constitutes 'English-only' legislation will be subjective; will the Conservative Party ensure that it is an English Speaker so that England gets the benefit of the doubt that should be afforded to the batting team?

11. Given that Wales shares the same legal system as England will it sometimes be ‘English and Welsh Votes on English and Welsh Matters’? Will the speaker sometimes exclude all non-English constituency MPs, and other times only the Scottish, or perhaps only the Welsh and Scottish?

12. Under English Votes on English Matters, MPs representing English constituencies will merely be able to react to proposals put forward by the UK government, rather than formulate legislation for the benefit of England. There will be no English cabinet and frontbench. Why? Who will speak for England?

13. If someone in the EVoEM 'parliament' tabled an amendment to a bill the UK government could just ignore it because the UK Government is in charge of the Civil Service and Parliamentary draughtsmen. Why should the English 'parliament' be totally reliant on the UK Government to codify and implement its legislation? Surely there must be separation of English and Uk government - an English Whitehall.

14. Under English Votes on English Matters the Tories could be the largest English Party but Labour could form the UK Government. This would mean that Labour ministers would be presiding over Whitehall departments for which their Government was unable to legislate. Couldn't the opposition party simply render England totally ungovernable by blocking all legislation that the UK Government drafted on England's behalf?

Many thanks for your time and consideration in this matter.