Sir Menzies Campbell MP, Liberal Democrat, Fife North East

Thank you for your letter regarding Scottish MPs voting rights on
English only matters, which raises some interesting debates. Let me
take this opportunity to express my views on this subject in more detail
than I was able to do during my interview on Sky News.

Tam Dayell famously posed his West Lothian question, which effectively
asked why a Scottish MP could vote on issues which concerned England but
which did not concern his own constituents, over 25 years ago. Now that
we have devolution in Scotland it is clear that it is the wrong
question. What we should be asking is the West Dorset question. Why
should a citizen of West Dorset have less democratic representation than
his or her counterparts in Scotland? It is the asymmetric nature of the
current devolution settlement, and consequent democratic deficit for
English citizens, which must be challenged.

A historical note often forgotten when discussing the legislative
relationship between England and Scotland is that the 1707 Act of Union
dissolved both the Scottish and the English Parliaments creating in
their stead a single new parliament for Great Britain. The seductive
argument that Scottish MPs should not vote on England only matters
ignores the reality of both the Act of Union and the 1998 Scotland Act.
The 1998 Act delegated authority to legislate on Scottish matters to the
Scottish Parliament but, crucially, it did not cede any power of the UK
parliament to legislate for Scotland. Under the terms of the Act
Westminster may at any time enforce any legislation it passes, whether
on devolved matters or not, throughout the UK by simple Order in Council
(section 30) whilst section 29(7) makes it clear that the power of
Westminster to legislate for Scotland remains intact. Therefore any Act
passed at Westminster could be applied in Scotland. To deprive Scottish
MPs of the right to debate and vote on legislation, without removing the
power of the UK parliament to legislate for Scotland, would remove the
representation of Scots on legislation which any government could decide
to impose upon them in the future, however unlikely.

The real debate therefore is twofold. First it is not about what the
Scots have but rather what the English do not have - a lack of any
devolved government for England. Second it is about creating a properly
balanced federal framework to best serve all the citizens of the United
Kingdom. There are those who would argue for an English Parliament with
the identical powers to the Scottish Parliament. This has the merit of
simplicity and would at a stroke create a symmetrical devolution
settlement. However there are arguments against it, not least the danger
of creating a parliament which did not properly represent the balance of
interests of the regions. Others therefore argue for a regional model.
As a Scot I do not feel it is for me to prescribe the best solution for
England. It is however clear that until England is in some shape or
another devolved the federal structure of the United Kingdom will remain
out of balance.

Scotland achieved a wide consensus by convening a constitutional
convention whose recommendations formed the basis for the current
settlement. England deserves no less. It is time for an English
constitutional convention.

Thank you again for writing to me on this most important issue.

Yours sincerely,

Sir Menzies Campbell
Acting Leader of the Liberal Democrats

Jan 2006

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