Time to give England its own political voice

LIKE Guy Lodge (Yorkshire Post, April 3), the Campaign for an English Parliament also welcomes the McKay Commission’s unflinching recommendation that English dissatisfaction with devolution and the governance of England requires an “all-England”solution that gives England a voice at Westminster.

The Commission recommends that political parties should publish English manifestos, that the territorial application of all Bills in Parliament should be clearly demarcated and that 
Bills which apply only to England should be referred to an English grand committee led by an English MP.

The Commission finds that “localism” is not the answer to the “English Question”. It is of course the answer to an entirely different question: how do we reverse the process of centralisation that has been followed by successive British governments throughout the 20th century?

That reversal could take place under an English Parliament just as effectively – and possibly more so – than through the British Parliament which has been responsible for centralisation.

There is overwhelming support in England for the partial solution at Westminster proposed by the McKay Commission. There is significant support, as the Commission notes, for a proper English Parliament.

We call on the British Government to implement in full the recommendations of the McKay Commission and then, at a future date, to allow the people of England a referendum on how they wish to be governed, including the offer of their own parliament which would have the same devolved powers and responsibilities as the Scottish Parliament.