Ken Clarke calls time on the Union

Prior to the last General Election I had Jeremy Wright (Conservative parliamentary candidate, and now MP) at my doorstep canvassing for my vote. I challenged him:

Me: Well, you may remember that I emailed you over the question of an English Parliament.

Him: Ah...yes!

Me: You probably also saw my letter about Andy King in the Weekly News?

[Laughs]

Me: As I said, there should be an English Parliament?

Him: I don't think that we need an extra layer of politicians.....extra layers of bureaucracy, red tape and expense.

Me: Oh, so you are in favour of abolishing the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh assembly then?

Him: No, I don't think that we can do that.

Me: Well you know my view. I think your plans would be a recipe for constitutional disaster, they don't give England constitutional existence, they would be subjective because the speaker would decide what legislation was 'English-only' and Scots would argue that it was not because of the knock-on effect to their subsidies.

Him: Hmmm...

Me: And, under your plans, it would be practically impossible for a Scot to hold a government position at Westminster - a Scottish Prime Minister, not that the Tories will have one, would be excluded from up to 70% of the legislation passed by Westminster.

Him: Yes, and I don't think that's a bad thing. Do you?

Me: Err....right then. Good luck.

And there it was, a Conservative joking about the prospect of excluding Scots from UK government.

Today Ken Clarke, head honcho of the Conservative's Democracy Task Force, has taken a step closer to making that joke a political reality:

The Conservatives are to recommend that Scottish MPs be banned from voting on issues that only affect England.

Former Chancellor Kenneth Clarke, who heads the Conservatives Democracy task force, told the Observer newspaper of the proposed recommendations.

He also said there was no prospect of backing down on some form of English votes for English questions.

Essentially these plans mean that a future Scottish prime minister of the UK would be unable to vote on health, education and transport. Scottish representation in Government would be slashed because it would be illogical for them to hold positions of power in the cabinet over policy areas on which they could not vote. You might expect me to welcome these proposals, and in a sense I do; English Votes on English Matters is so unworkable and prejudiced towards Scotland that it will inevitably lead to a constitutional impasse so great that an English parliament will be the only solution. But at what cost? The alienation of Scotland; the break-up of the Union; an end to the principles of parliamentary democracy? Can we have a union in which MPs are barred from the top-jobs because they represent a non-English constituency?

Back in March I wrote to the Democracy Task Force outlining my objections to English Votes on English Matters. To date I have not received a reply, or even an acknowledgment. I don't know what the Conservatives are playing at but they are playing a very dangerous game.

The Observer:

If the policy became law, it would make it almost impossible for Brown to become Prime Minister as he would have no right to vote on issues affecting the vast majority of voters.