English Parliament
Writing about web page http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6264823.stm
I don't really see what all the fuss is about; surely, by definition, England already has its own parliament - the one in London. Also I don't see how 1,953 people can be used to say that most of the 60-odd million people in the UK think England should have its own parliament; that's only about 0.003% - if you were to interview all 60,000,000 people you'd mis-count a greater percentage than that...
Plus why does it matter what Scotland and Wales think? It's not going to affect them, surely. Yes, fine, it's interesting, but it's also quite interesting that the hottest chilli on the planet is grown in Dorset...
Now, admittedly, I don't know much about politics - and I tend to group governments in general together with Unlimited Broadband and cow dung - but I really don't see the point of a specific English parliament; especially if Scotland and Wales have their own parliaments, so surely all London has to worry about now is England anyway...
16 Jan 2007 15:16
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Tags: Parliament Politics Randomness
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Comments (4)
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I think the issue is generally referred to as the West Lothian question. Basically Scottish MPs sit in the Houses of Parliment and are allowed to vote on matters which affect England only. English MPs do not get to vote on Scottish issues eg free care for elderly.
Therefore there should be an English parliment, with English MPs voting on matters for England only.
16 Jan 2007, 16:35
The point is that the government are using the votes of Scottish and Welsh MPs (especially Scottish MPs) to vote on matters which affect only England (or England and Wales), and thus have no direct bearing on their constituents. It’s them that we have to thank for top-up fees, because if they’d had to rely on their support in England, they’d have lost, in spite of the fact that top-up fees don’t affect the Scottish lobby-fodder at all.
16 Jan 2007, 18:01
Well that’s just silly; how can they have their own parliament and be part of a UK parliament? Surely there’ll be conflicting decisions?
16 Jan 2007, 20:15
The Scottish Parliament has responsibility in some areas but not in others; hence Scottish MPs at Westminster in the UK Parliament so as to give them input into national decisions. The problem is that Westminster is simultaneously the Parliament for the UK and for England, hence the problems. I’m personally unsure about England having its own Parliament, but the current situation can’t continue.
16 Jan 2007, 23:41
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