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The West Lothian question examines whether it is just If it's English vote for English law, the UK's end is nigh , ''The Guardian'', , Secretary Of State For Constitutional Affairs , ''Today'' Programme , BBC Radio 4 , 10 March 2006 has come into existence. The question is twofold:
The issue has also been called the "English question." HISTORY The question was first posed on 14 November 1977 by Tam Dalyell , Labour Member Of Parliament (MP) for the Scottish Constituency of West Lothian , 1962 to 2005 during a British House Of Commons debate over Scottish and Welsh Devolution (see Scotland Act 1978 and Wales Act 1978 ): "For how long will English constituencies and English Honourable members He illustrated his point by pointing out the paradox of a Member of Parliament for West Lothian being able to vote on matters affecting West Bromwich but not his own constituency of West Lothian. The name "West Lothian Question" was coined by the Ulster Unionist (formerly Conservative ) MP Enoch Powell in his response to Dalyell's speech: "We have finally grasped what the Honourable Member for West Lothian is getting at, let us call it the West Lothian Question." Titling the issue as a "question" may be a homage to nineteenth century political issues such as the Irish Question and the Eastern Question . CURRENT SITUATION While Scottish MPs have not been prevented from voting on English Domestic Affairs , the number of MPs to which Scotland is entitled (which was previously disproportionately high for its population) was reduced at the 2005 General Election from 72 to 59. Legislation for the creation of , 27 January , 2004 Meanwhile, top-up fees were clearly rejected in Scotland. Summing up the view held by those critical of the current devolution settlements, the Shadow Constitutional Secretary , Oliver Heald , said: "It is not sustainable to have measures imposed on England on the back of the votes of Scottish MPs, when the same measures in Scotland are the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament." Falconer rules out an English parliament claiming it would destroy the Union , '' Daily Telegraph '', 11 March 2006 Arguing in favour of the ''status quo'', the then Secretary Of State For Constitutional Affairs , Lord Falconer Of Thoroton , said: "All matters — even those seemingly limited to England — impact on the Union. The funding settlement with the nations and regions of the UK means that what is decided on public funding in England, for example, affects Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland. These are national issues for the United Kingdom and so they should be debated at the national Parliament in Westminster by all MPs, not by subsets depending on the location of their constituency." Lord Falconer Of Thoroton , Ministerial speech, 10 March 2006 When Prime Minister , 2007 KEY CONSIDERATIONS Executive power hierarchy The Scottish Parliament was formed by statute – the Scotland Act 1998 – and is thus a creation of Westminster . The enactment of the Scotland Act 1998 conferred no sovereign status on the Scottish Parliament, and has crucially not changed the status of the Westminster Parliament as the supreme legislature of Scotland, with Westminster retaining the ability to override, or veto, any decisions taken by the Scottish Parliament. The Westminster parliament remains the executive body; power is ''devolved'' rather than handed to the Scottish Parliament. As a consequence, the ability of all Westminster MPs to vote on Scottish legislation has not been legally diminished by devolution, as made clear by Section 28(7) of the Scotland Act 1998, which states that the legislative powers of the Scottish Parliament do ''...not affect the power of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to make laws for Scotland''. Scotland Act, section 28(7) During website These motions (of which there are around a dozen per year) allow all English, Welsh, Northern Irish, and Scottish MPs to vote on issues, which among other things, are within the Scottish Parliament's legislative competence. The Sewel Convention states that the Westminster Parliament will not normally legislate on devolved matters in Scotland without first obtaining the consent of the Scottish Parliament. However, given that the Sewel Convention is a legally unenforcable procedural device,, House Of Commons Standard Note and the UK Parliament has legislative supremacy; were the Scottish Parliament to deny consent, Westminster would be able to ignore this and pass the law anyway – although this has never happened in practice. Reserved matters Legislation relating to ''reserved issues'' such as Defence , National Security , Foreign Affairs and Monetary and Economic issues are voted on by all the MPs at Westminster to ensure consistency across the whole of the United Kingdom . The Scottish Parliament is not able to pass laws on these issues itself, as they were not devolved. The West Lothian Question is not related to this situation, as all parts of the Union have a say roughly proportional to their population and all are equally affected. Parliament of Northern Ireland A situation akin to that presented by the West Lothian Question did exist between 1921 and 1972, when there was a Parliament Of Northern Ireland that legislated for Northern Ireland , whilst Northern Ireland continued to send MPs to Westminster, who could vote on matters affecting Great Britain only. However, during this period Northern Ireland had disproportionately fewer MPs than would be expected from the relative populations, with the numbers cut from the twenty-nine elected at the 1918 General Election to thirteen from the 1922 General Election , and later to twelve with the abolition of University Constituencies in 1950. PROPOSED ANSWERS English votes on English laws It has been proposed that , July 15 , 1999 , 2005 The Liberal Democrats also support regional government for England. Both the Conservative and Scottish National parties follow a policy that MPs For Scottish Seats will not vote on issues that only affect England. During his final years in the Commons , Labour MP Dalyell (who originally posed the question in Parliament) also voted in line with such a policy. However there were times when the political parties were in disagreement as to whether a matter affected countries other than England, such as the Higher Education Act 2004 where the SNP argued that its passing would reduce Scotland's Block Grant via the Barnett Formula , and therefore decided to vote against the bill. During the 2006 Liberal Democrats Leadership Election contender Simon Hughes pledged that if he were elected the Liberal Democrats would also follow such a rule. Simon Hughes is also on record for supporting a full Devolved English Parliament . Opponents of this proposal argue that it introduces further confusion and effectively creates two Parliaments in a single chamber. Furthermore, it would not overcome the problems created should Scottish MPs become Ministers in Westminster with responsibilities for devolved matters (as happened in 2007 when the Scottish 14 May 2006 (although this must be taken as meaning a PM that is the MP for a Scottish seat, as Blair was born in Edinburgh). Furthermore taken to its extremes, this would end the constitutional principle of Parliamentary Sovereignty and may exclude Scottish MPs from voting on funding of English Matters , while the entire UK Parliament continues to set the Consolidated Fund levels available to the Scottish Parliament in the Budget . As a slight variation, it has been proposed that an English Grand Committee , along the lines of the Scottish and Welsh Grand Committees (made up of all the MPs from relevant nation) be formed to debate on the effects of legislation on England. Fewer Scottish MPs There is also the option of cutting the number of Scottish MPs even further to about 40, as happened during the existence of the Parliament Of Northern Ireland when the number of MPs at Westminster was below the standard ratio of electorate to MPs for the rest of the UK. It is argued that this would trade a reduced voice for Scotland in exchange for Scottish MPs being able to vote on English matters, and therefore may form an acceptable solution. However, while such a solution would have attraction to England, it is difficult to see how accepting reduced voting strength on major issues that affect Scotland in exchange for a say in matters that don't apply to Scotland, could be an attractive trade from a Scottish perspective. English devolution =English parliament The creation of a Devolved English Parliament , with full legislative powers, akin to the Scottish Parliament is seen by some as a solution to this problem, with full legislative powers also being conferred on the existing Welsh Assembly . The Westminster (United Kingdom) Parliament would continue to meet and legislate on matters of UK-wide competence such as Defence, Foreign Affairs and economic matters with the parliaments of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland legislating locally. However opponents of this proposal argue that it would simply add another layer of government and an 'expensive talking shop'. , 10 March 2006 =Regional assemblies Government policy has been to establish English , 5 November 2004 leading to the shelving of similar proposals for other English regions. Nevertheless, the unelected regional assemblies remain in place. Dissolution of the Union Another solution might be the dissolution of the United Kingdom leading to the Constituent Countries — England , Northern Ireland , Scotland , and Wales — becoming independent Sovereign States . Problems exist, however, on the constitutionality of such a break-up and the necessity of Westminster to agree to any such arrangement (which would require MPs from other areas of the UK to, in effect, allow independence of any particular constituent country or area). The result of the 2007 Scottish Parliament General Election has complicated matters, with the Scottish National Party claiming a mandate for an independence referendum, as they hold the largest number of seats, with 37% of the counted vote (19% of the electoral vote, based on a 51.8% turnout). As all other major parties are pro-Union, the SNP chose to form a minority government (47 seats out of 129 at Holyrood, or a minority of 18 seats). Re-centralisation The abolition of the Devolved Scottish Parliament , National Assembly For Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly would also fundamentally address the anomaly created by their establishment. Stop asking the question In 1998, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine Of Lairg , said that the best answer to the question was to stop asking it.Bagehot, "The Economist", page 36, 8 July 2006 FURTHER READING
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