This House would devolve power to an English Parliament

This debate arises as a consequence of devolution, a policy carried out by the UK’s Labour government from 1997. Devolution is the process of giving certain previously centralised powers to regional governments. Under the 1997 policy, the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly were created and contained similarities to the Stormont Parliament in Northern Ireland, which was established in the 1920s but then abolished in the 1970s. These legislative bodies are separately elected by UK citizens resident in Scotland and Wales and make policy on areas such as education, health, agriculture and justice. Policy in these areas in England is made by the UK Parliament (at Westminster in London), which also legislates on UK-wide policy, such as defence, economy and foreign policy. Scottish and Welsh citizens, therefore, vote in two elections – one to choose their representatives in the Scottish Parliament (Members of the Scottish Parliament – MSPs), or Welsh Assembly (Assembly Members – AMs) and another to choose their representatives in the Westminster Parliament (Members of Parliament – MPs). In contrast, English citizens only vote to elect MPs. A problem, known as the ‘West Lothian Question’, that arises from this is that Scottish and Welsh MPs get to vote on policy that only affects England, since the relevant policy in Scotland or Wales is decided on by the devolved bodies. One proposed solution is that England should also have its own legislative body – the English Parliament – which would decide on the same issues for England as the Scottish Parliament does for Scotland, leaving Westminster to decide only on those issues of UK-wide significance. Essentially, this debate will cover issues on the representation of English issues, the ‘West Lothian Question’ and population.