An Answer to the West Lothian Question
The “West Lothian question” hanging over British politics seems to have been answered by measures recently passed in Parliament. Described by many as a “question without an answer,” the complicated question, raised by West Lothian Member of Parliament (MP) Tam Dalyell in 1977, concerns non-English MPs’ ability to weigh in on policies that only affect England. As it stands now, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales—which in addition to England, comprise the U.K.—have a degree of autonomy in domestic legislation through their independent parliaments. England, in contrast, does not. New laws crafted by the Conservative Party and and passed in Parliament last week, outline a new procedure that will grant England more legislative autonomy. The new measure, dubbed “English Votes for English Laws” (EVEL), assures English MPs a preliminary vote on policies deemed English-exclusive by the House of Commons. Supporters and critics of the new measure have starkly opposite predictions for its impact on the U.K.
Citing powers granted in 1998 to the devolved parliaments of the U.K., Chris Grayling, the Conservative Party leader of the House of Commons, has said that EVEL brings “fairness to our devolutions settlement and it is fairness that will secure the future of our union.” With EVEL, Conservatives like Grayling are fulfilling Prime Minister David Cameron’s promise to give English MPs the ability to decide, free from non-English influence, the fate of policy issues such as English health and education. Cameron’s promise, which came in the wake of Scotland’s ‘no’ vote to withdraw from the Union on September 18 of last year, was accompanied by a very similar promise to Scottish Parliament: its ability to legislate would become increasingly more independent from Westminster. Cameron’s ‘please-all’ rhetoric helped drive the ‘no’ vote on Scotland’s referendum, but following up on his calls for England has proved to be contentious.
The Labour Party and the Scottish National Party (SNP), whose MPs largely voted against EVEL, quickly denounced the measure. Labour Party MP Kevin Brennan said the new policy would create “different classes of MPs” and jokingly suggested that MPs wear “different coloured passes” to identify who can vote on certain legislation. Labour MPs are concerned about what EVEL will do to their party’s power in U.K. Parliament. Since the Labour Party consists of both English and Scottish MPs, its power over laws affecting England will disintegrate when votes are narrowed to only English MPs. The Labour-SNP coalition in Parliament will also be wiped out when Scottish MPs are excluded from voting under EVEL.
The Scottish reproach to EVEL is rooted chiefly in the ‘wedge’ that, according to some SNP leaders, is being pushed between their country and the U.K. by the increased power English MPs can now flex. SNP’s Pete Wishart stated that the measure will not ‘secure’ the Union as Grayling suggested, noting instead that in light of its passing, “support for [Scottish] independence is actually increasing.”
The mechanism for classifying laws as English-only has been another point of contention. EVEL allows the Speaker of the Commons, a position currently held by former Conservative Party MP John Bercow, to independently classify a piece of legislation as ‘English only.’ Skeptics of the measure believe this step should be a more inclusive process, especially since classifying laws as ‘English only’ may prove to be murky; many seemingly English-isolated laws have ripple effects in the U.K.’s other countries. Many public works projects, for example, may be located in England but will levy taxes on the entire U.K. population.
MPs in opposition to EVEL are also wary of the future. While Conservatives currently hold majorities both in the U.K. Parliament and among English MPs, the law could allow them to continue to block major legislation even if the U.K. Parliamentary majority was lost in the future. By virtue of maintaining just an English majority, a party could still utilize the power of the new measure to block or pass legislation--a vexing problem non-conservatives see in this conservative answer to the West Lothian question.