Post-Scottish referendum reforms will prevent Scottish MPs from voting on English-only issues, David Cameron has today (19 September) announced. The announcement came in the PM’s post-referendum speech, in which he talked of fast-tracked proposals to spearhead the change.
The move is aimed to provide a ‘decisive answer’ to the ‘West Lothian Question’, which posits the question of whether non-English nations in the UK should be able to have a say on English law. Any proposals would also consequently impact Wales and Northern Ireland.
David Cameron said: “The question of English votes for English laws, the so-called West Lothian Question, requires a decisive answer, so just as Scotland will vote separately on their issues of tax, spending and welfare, so too England as well as Wales and Northern Ireland should be able to vote on these issues.
“All this must take place in tandem with and at the same pace as the settlement for Scotland.”
It is hoped that the proposals will help end the 30-year-old debate, and remove the political anomaly from the English constitution.
Controversially, however, the proposed changes will also serve as a double-edged sword against Labour, which currently has 40 Scottish MPs, and would see their power in Westminster severely diminished.
Douglas Alexander, a Shadow Labour Minister, immediately hit out against the plans, but other Labour reaction was suggestive of a split in the party.
Lord Reid, the former Labour Home Secretary, said further enhanced powers for Scottish Parliament could not be achieved without “looking at the needs of the reformed club, if you like, of the other nations, including the English. I happen to think that is perfectly logical and predictable.”