A UNION IN WHICH FOUR FIFTHS OF ITS POPULATION IS UNFAIRLY GOVERNED IS A UNION MISGOVERNED

'The Inquiry Report of the House of Commons Justice Committee of MPs into 'Devolution a Decade on' (published May 22nd) has produced Conclusions and Recommendations (paragraphs 26-40 pages 84-87) which emphatically lend substance and support to the arguments the CEP has been making for the past decade in support of a parliament for England with the same status, purpose and powers as the Scottish Parliament.' That is the message now sent out to all CEP members by Michael Knowles, head of the Campaign's Media Unit upon reception and consideration of the Report.

Paragraph 26 'Over four fifths of the population of the United Kingdom live in England but while fundamental change has been taking place in the governance of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with consequent effect upon the governance of the United Kingdom as a whole, no such change has taken place in the way England is governed'. The Campaign has been stating precisely that for the past decade, and stated it in great detail in the written and oral evidence it submitted to the Committee. England was totally left out of the Devolution Settlement. The most crucial element of the 1998 devolution legislation concerned governance. Scotland, Wales and NI became self-governing. In the case of Scotland seventy five percent self-governing. England enjoys no self-government at all. In the following paragraph the Committee provides more detail



Paragraph 27 ‘Government in England remains centralised under the authority and management of the United Kingdom Parliament and the United Kingdom Government’. Again, that was precisely our CEP written and oral evidence. The way in which the United Kingdom is now governed is nothing less than confused, muddled and unfair. Each of its four parts stands in a different relationship of governance to the UK Parliament. Scotland has benefited far in excess of the each of the other three. In the case of England the outcomes of this situation in terms of expenditure and benefits in comparison with what Scotland, Wales and NI receive or bestow upon themselves is grossly discriminatory. However, in respect of governance the Committee addresses something much worse.



Paragraph 27 ‘England is governed directly by the United Kingdom Government and Parliament and is therefore subject to Ministers and MPs who do not represent England and whose own constituents come under devolved governments’. This is the West Lothian Question. The Scots can legislate for England in every detail of English life. The English are excluded from 75% of legislation that concerns Scotland. For the past ten years the CEP has on every occasion possible, specifically through four major publications, brought this injustice to the attention of the United Kingdom Parliament. For the very first time a committee of the House of Commons has formally acknowledged the injustice.



Paragraph 27 ‘The governance of England is seen by many as the “unfinished business” of devolution’. The Committee goes on to deal with the different solutions proposed to the English Question. It does not support that of an English Parliament. That was signalled well in advance of the Inquiry even starting; and its Chairman Alan Beith MP was opposing it in public while the Inquiry –his Inquiry- was still taking evidence. However, the most fundamental progress has been made: A House of Commons Committee has for the first time made formal acknowledgement that England, ‘over four fifths of the population of the United Kingdom’ is misgoverned. The Union is not broken but its governance is systemically unjust.



Contacts:

Michael Knowles. CEP Media Unit. Tel: 01260 27339 Email: michael-knowles@tiscali.co.uk