The Government’s ‘English votes for English laws’ proposal has been passed by the House of Commons, following support from an MP majority of 312 votes to 270.
Some of the most vocal criticism came from the Scottish National Party (SNP), including Pete Wishart, who called the plans “stupid” and that their implementation would result in Scottish MPs being made “second class citizens”.
Much of the criticism focused on allowing John Bercow, the commons speaker, to decide what can be classed as an English law, with SNP members arguing that legislation could be seen as applying only to England when it could actually have an indirect impact on Scotland.
However, Chris Grayling, leader of the House of Commons, defended the legislation and said that any objections to the new law could be dismissed as “nonsense”.
Despite the changes, which will mean that MPs in England can vote on matters that affect England and veto legislation, all MPs – no matter where their constituency is located – will still have to vote on issues that progress later in the process.
Under the current UK political agreement, MPs from Scottish constituencies can vote on matters in Westminster such as health or education that affect only England, whereas English MPs cannot vote on the same issues voted on in the Scottish Parliament.
As part of the debate, Mr Grayling said: “These proposed changes enable us to give an answer to the West Lothian question, they enable us to give an answer to our constituents, to say England will have its own piece of our devolution settlement.”
He continued to say that “It can’t be in anyone’s interest to see English people becoming cynical about the union… it isn’t tenable to have devolution for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and for England to have no powers at all.”