Nick Clegg: those who make the laws of the land should be elected by those to whom those laws apply

Via A National Conversation for England comes this hostage to fortune from Nick Clegg:

“In a modern democracy it is important that those who make the laws of the land should be elected by those to whom those laws apply. The House of Lords performs its work well but lacks sufficient democratic authority”.

Nick Clegg, who prevaricated unconvincingly over the West Lothian Question infront of the Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee, will be reminded of this quote if he eventually gets around to putting together a committee on the West Lothian Question with the intention of preventing non-English MPs voting on English laws.

The question posed by Nick Clegg goes a bit wider than the West Lothian Question because it asks whether it is important that those who make the laws of the land should be elected by those to whom those laws apply. In other words, is it acceptable for MPs elected outside England to have a say in government bill relating to England; should government ministers who are elected outside England have any say in drafting English legislation; should they be sitting around the Cabinet table influencing it, potentially as ministers for departments with an English portfolio; and should they even form a part of the electoral college that determines the government that England gets?

Image courtesy of the CEP