Chuck it in the Bin Mr Clarke
Details of a report from the Tory democracy taskforce set up by David Cameron and chaired by Ken Clarke have been revealed to the press, the Telegraph’s Philip Johnson looks at the main suggestions regarding the West Lothian Question and argues that an English Parliament is unacceptable because it would damage the Union, the old Tory policy of EV on EM has obviously been shelved probably because the argument ahs been accepted that it would create two separate types of MPs. The task force has come up with a compromise solution that English matter would be debated in committee by English only MPs but the legalisation would come back to the full house for final vote.
The problem is that this will not address the inequality in our system caused by setting up separate Parliaments in Scotland and Wales, because this is a compromise between those who want EV on EM and those who want to maintain the imbalance created by Labour. It is not a compromise between those who want an English Parliament and the present situation, in fact it is a step back from the original Tory policy because it still allows Scottish MPs to vote on matter that do not effect their own constituents.
A better compromise which did address the real problem of inequality, was suggested by John Redwood a few week ago is addressed the problem because it would remove the present Scottish Parliament, and the SMPs. All MPs would be elected to Westminster and would meet in Westminster for part of the week to debate laws that applied to the whole of the UK and then return to their respective national parliaments to decide on local issues. This is accepting the idea that it was the creation of the Scottish and Welsh parliaments that have caused the problem thus we have two choices an English parliament or the removal of the separate systems created by the regionalisation agenda.
Mr Redwood says on his blog
These proposals would
a) Restore symmetry and fairness between the different countries of the Union
b) Save money compared with a model which required yet more politicans to be elected to a new English Parliament, and compared to the present model with the current additional elected people in Scotland and Wales
c) Ensure full time use of the Westminster Parliament and facilities.
So I am afraid the Tories have just spent a great deal of time on debating this issue, but because they have not recognised the basic problem, Ken Clarke and Co, have not come up with an answer to the basic problem. All I can suggest is that Mr Clarke chucks his report where it belongs and then gets on the phone to Mr Redwood, there is an answer short of an English Parliament that has some merit and is worth exploring.
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