Nick Graham
A Union
more
disunited
than before?
A high level of political participation in
the Scottish referendum, unheard of
in recent national and local elections,
together with a sizeable proportion
of that country’s population indicating
its unhappiness with the current
constitutional set-up, have resurrected
the issue of constitutional reform in
the United Kingdom.
However, parties that had marched lockstep with one another to
stave off the secessionist threat are now at loggerheads over the
form that that process should take in, and in so doing are possibly
threatening the very Union they had fought to preserve, with
England’s position within the Union now equally as debated.
As was pledged by a nervous ‘No’ campaign days before the referendum,
Scotland will now be granted much greater independence in areas of
taxation and government. However, doing so will bring into sharper
focus the historic West Lothian question (“Easy to ask, trickier to
answer” according to Joshua Rosenberg of The Guardian).
Highlighted by Labour MP Tam Dalylell as long ago as 1979, the West
Lothian question - no longer purely theoretical since 1997 - points
out the constitutional discrepancy under a devolved settlement
whereby Scottish MPs sent to Westminster by Scottish voters can i
nfluence legislation on areas such as health and education affecting
England, whereas English voters are powerless to influence those
same areas north of the border. Fearing disgruntlement in Conservative
heartlands in England and the gifting to Nigel Farage of an issue
with which he can further aid the process of defection of disaffected
Tories to UKIP, the Prime Minister immediately made his and his
party’s stance clear on the issue. Many Conservatives favour the
exclusion on votes concerning areas only affecting England of those
MPs not representing seats there, largely on the basis of the McKay
Commission’s proposals. The issue is a problematic one for the
Labour Party given the location of many of its heartlands seats: in
the current Parliament, exclusively English votes in the Commons
would see the party lose some 40 Commons’ votes from Scotland
alone to the Conservatives’ 1, creating a problem for the party in
passing legislation for England without making concessions to
opposition parties, assuming it resumes office in the future. Although
a Labour majority in England is not unheard of at Westminster –
Tony Blair won a majority of English constituencies during his time
in number 10 – the days of landslide majorities of the kind seen then
Nick Graham
A Union
more
disunited
than before?
(continued)
may be a thing of the past. Barring any cross-party consensus on
the issue ahead of next May, the issue will likely form part of the
Conservative Party’s manifesto going into the 2015 General Election,
and the Labour Party, with its eye on key marginal seats in England,
will not be able to ignore such matters. Indeed, many Labour MPs
such as John Denham, who represent English constituencies, have
voiced their own concerns over the need to move in the same
direction that the PM has proposed.
But such changes carry consequences with them. One criticism is
that it risks creating two tiers of MPs as well as two agendas.
One possible solution would be to create two stages to Commons
legislation, a debating stage exclusively involving English MPs, and
a second involving all MPs to finally vote on legislation. Other
proposals have been put forward though all of these are problematic
and not without partisan interest. The Labour Party favours greater
autonomy for England’s regions, based in part on Spain’s autonomous
system. However, having initiated such a project in 2003, it was
shelved after nearly 80% of voters in the North East rejected the
proposed regional assembly. Another proposal is to devolve greater
powers to city governments on the London model that has proven
largely successful. Again, as Lord Adonis points out, there is little
public appetite for such exercises, though the Scottish referendum
may have generated the necessary democratic enthusiasm for both
of these projects to be resurrected. Lastly, there is the option of an
English Parliament parallel to the Commons in a completely federal
system. However, constitutional historian Vernon Bogdanor points
out that a federal system where one single entity within it represents
80% of the population is doomed to failure, citing the historic
examples of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and the USSR as evidence.
remembered for. Additionally, Alex Salmond and the SNP, ostensibly
the losers on September 18th, may yet emerge as winners should
a constitutional settlement to the satisfaction of everyone prove
elusive, particularly if Nicola Sturgeon becomes the party’s new
leader, who is more left-wing and capable of appealing to those
female voters whom the SNP noticeably failed to attract. Should
this happen, then ‘No’ voters, swayed by campaign pledges, will
likely abandon cross-national parties and further swell the ranks
of the SNP. Then, the reoccurrence of a Scottish referendum on
independence may not have been put off for a generation as the
Prime Minister claimed it had.
The paradox of the Unionist victory is that it has provoked a
debate in Westminster that leaves the Union looking increasingly
fragmented. Granting Scotland further devolved powers without
addressing English concerns will create the kind of constitutional
anomalies no Prime Minister or governing party will want to be
Questions
Research and summarise the main findings of the
McKay Commission?
What does Bernard Jenkin MP mean when he says
that Scottish MPs have “power but no legitimacy”?
How united is the United Kingdom after the referendum
on Scottish independence?