Theresa May, Conservatives, Maidenhead

Thank you for writing to me regarding the vote on regional select committees that was defeated in Parliament last Wednesday so narrowly. It was very disappointing to be beaten so narrowly but I was encouraged that it was such a close vote against a Labour party that holds such a large majority.

Concerning the West Lothian question, I firmly believe that it is wrong that many MPs are in the position of legislating for those to whom they are not accountable, while being unable to legislate for those to whom they are accountable. This is an issue that Labour has, irresponsibly and perhaps not without self-interest, been determined to avoid. In contrast, the Conservatives have been committed to addressing it ever since devolution was established in 1999. We have said that leaving the West Lothian Question unanswered not only stood in the way of fully accountable and fair government for England but also put at risk the Union that exists between, and gives considerable benefit to, all the constituent countries of the UK.

It is for these reasons that the Conservative Party asked its Democracy Taskforce to devise an answer to the West Lothian Question. The Taskforce, chaired by the Rt. Hon. Kenneth Clarke MP, has now published its report. The report proposes restricting to English MPs alone, the power to vote in the stages of the legislative process in the House of Commons where the detail of the England-only Bills is worked out. This would protect England from having measures that a majority of English MPs found unacceptable being imposed upon it as a consequence of non-English votes. It is cases where this has happened that have created the resentment of devolution that exists in England. The Taskforce’s proposed solution would retain the ability of the whole House of Commons to vote on the final stages of the Bill (when its detail has already been decided), in order to give the UK Government the choice of accepting any amendments made by the English MPs alone or having the Bill voted down and lost. This was recommended to ensure that we can have a functioning Government, without intolerable political instability.

I believe the Taskforce has presented a thoughtful and persuasive answer to the West Lothian Question. One which, crucially, seeks to ensure that legislation affecting England alone should have the consent of of England’s representatives. The publication of the Taskforce report shows that the Conservatives are setting the agenda on this issue. The Shadow Cabinet is now examining the report as part of its consideration of the precise formulation of the answer to the West Lothian Question that we are committed to giving in our next manifesto.

Once again, thank you for writing to me.

November 2008 (Source)

RSS feed for comments on this post.