So, English votes for English laws then?
Yes, very much so. We need an agreement to that effect. And the obvious best solution - or so it seems to me - would be an English Parliament. For two hundred and ninety years Scottish laws were made by the majority in the numerically English-dominated UK parliament and when we complained nobody gave a toss. I resented that, and was much in favour of the establishment of a Scottish Parliament.
I equally believe that an English Parliament would be a positive development. In the meantime we should strive to get a fair deal on what the principle of EVEL means, and how it is to be defined and applied.
The problem with the UK is that it has never been able to evolve a federal structure or anything resembling one, up to the most recent times. The constitutional principle that has stood in the way of this was very clearly expounded by
Alfred Dicey in his authoritative
treatise on the Constitution.
SOVEREIGNTY OF PARLIAMENT7
The sovereignty of Parliament is, from a legal point of view, the dominant characteristic of our political institutions. And my readers will remember that Parliament consists of the King, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons acting together. The principle, therefore, of parliamentary sovereignty means neither more nor less than this, namely that "Parliament" has "the right to make or unmake any law whatever; and further, that no person or body is recognised by the law of England as having a right to override or set aside the legislation of Parliament," and further that this right or power of Parliament extends to every part of the King's dominions. These doctrines appear in the first edition of this work, published in 1885; they have been repeated in each successive edition published up to the present day. Their truth has never been denied.
Now, the application of "the Law of England" invoked by Dicey, ought not to extend beyond the territory of England. It is not a fitting mechanism by which a union of several countries is to be governed. But undoing the practice based on the imperial assumptions taken for granted for several centuries, is not an easy task. It caused bloodshed in Ireland in Dicey's last years - he died in 1922, having execrated Home Rule throughout his career - and it is causing strain in the governance of the UK at the present time.
But you may agree with me that the task should be undertaken, and that if it requires the establishment of an English Parliament, that solution should not be ruled out. I want nothing more for the Scottish people than I am willing to grant to other peoples who desire it too.
