English Votes for English Laws

Evel isn't being debated until the autumn is it? Time for the opposition to get their act together.

Why did the government want Scotland to remain part of the UK if it is now saying it is not allowed to vote as part of the UK?

Does DC really think everyone will blame the SNP members. Apparently he wouldn't have been able to get the bill through even if they hadn't voted as too many of his own party would have opposed it. I suppose it is a smoke screen which will fool some but surely we really aren't that stupid.

Depends on what the newspapers say tomorrow, Gracesgran. Some people will believe them.

Many believed him in the run up to the election when he played the Scots v English card

Surely its simple. If the particular law applies to England, Scotland, Wales and NI, then all MP's get to vote. If it only applies to England then only English MP's get to vote etc.

Pardon my ignorance on this subject, perhaps it is much more complicated than that.

Then let's have equality for the four countries of the UK, an English assembly for England not England taking over the UK parliament and banning elected MP's from voting in the house

The logical solution is an English Parliament, but that means another layer of expense, more elections, more civil servants, more noses in troughs.

It would be logical to slash the size of the House of Commons to, say, 400.

All this requires loads of consultation, maybe a Royal Commission, lots of time and expense. Evel should be sold as a cheap and cheerful interim measure to deal with the problem in the short term, unless the SNP can be trusted to keep out of English issues in the absence of a stop-gap solution, which on present evidence it can't.

Why should the SNP keep out of any issues in the house of commons? No-one has ever suggested that Scottish MPs of any other party should keep out of anything.

Evel- not so simple. As I posted earlier, the government is not even clear on which Bills, already dedated in the last few years, should be classed as England-only, or England & Wales.

A list of 20 such Bills showed that, in fact, 13 of them had implications for Scotland.

I can't disagree with you there grumppa.

I just wish the UK could be just that. A UNITED kingdom, instead of what it is now becoming. A very UN-united kingdom.

I have to agree grumppa. I think there are some politicians who have always seen parliament as English first and UK second but it is, in fact, a UK parliament so an English one would make sense.

Let's suppose that Evel is brought in, then in a future UK parliament Conservatives get 56 seats in Scotland.
Will the Conservatives be happy for those MPs to be excluded from taking part in the process of a large number of Bills, do you think?

I would not want a UK parliment which chooses cheap and cheerful over fairness and equal rights for all

FarNorth if that was to happen this government would simply change the rules yet again

If fairness and equal rights for all can be achieved by September, fine. And pigs might fly. So what is fhe short term interim solution, anniebach?

Short term solution is to keep it as it is while things are properly discussed and decided.
It hasn't suddenly become unfair to England just because Scotland now has a majority of SNP MPs.

If you live in England you may not know that David Cameron, as well as other politicians, went to great lengths before the referendum to beg Scotland to stay in the UK. He even said "Don't leave the union, but stay and lead it."

Yet he then went on to demonise the Scots in the Conservatives' general election campaign when, in fact, England is in no danger at all of being taken over / ruled / or suchlike, by Scotland.

Why a short term solution grumpa ? What is the rush? are people demonstrating at Westminster? The debate in the house this afternoon was most interesting and a question was raised which i have asked , how can any MP who has not been banned for x number of weeks for breaking parliamentary rules be prevented from entering the house and taking part in any debate

There needs to be a short term solution because the SNP, on the evidence so far, cannot be relied on not to vote on purely English matters. Mind you, there has been time to find a solution since Scotland first voted for a separate assembly when Blair was PM.

What evidence so far? Reacting to the abuse they have received since the election and leading up to the election . They said they would not vote and only change after the constant EVEL comments Cameron could have sorted this in the five years before the election but didn't , then came his love in with Scotland during the referendum followed by those wicked Scots during the election Not consistent is he

The SNP's elected MPs at Westminster are perfectly entitled to take part and vote in any debates, just as Scottish MPs of all parties always have been.
Why is it suddenly seen as such a problem?

Cameron has whipped up ill-feeling against Scotland and the SNP for no good reason that I can see.

FarNorth, Cameron is responsible for this mess, he stirred up the anti Scot feelings during the election portraying the Scots as baddies

I didn't think the Labour party was bothered about Evel, grumppa, so why should they have sorted out anything.
It's only because Cameron got in a strop at the election. It's also because he decided the Scotland bill was not going to go through without Evel after the referendum. He's the one that caused the problem, as FarNorth and Anniebach say.
His problem is that he is used to having his own way, hence the fox hunting debacle as well.

Blair and his government should take full responsibility for the mess for having rushed through the first round of quasi-independent arrangements. They were told at the time what problems this would cause. The West Lothian question, remember? Then Cameron et al aren't improving matters.

Hardly rushed in, the first vote was 1979 in Wales then all went quiet untill Thatcher did her queen of England reign, this was the cause of the demands in 1997

Quite a long gap between Thatcher and first round of devolution. Time to come up with a better scheme! Also, have you forgotten that you Welsh got it wrong first time and voted 'No'? Just like the regions over elected mayors. Democracy at work.