Reasons for rejecting the "English votes on English Laws"

 It is a reactionary policy born of the need for the Conservative Party to have a devolution policy of some sort. It is a policy that shows a complete lack of enthusiasm for devolution and the opportunities it offers, although it does seem to recognise that devolution is a fact and the UK has changed forever. That grudging acceptance cannot hide a wish to limit constitutional change to a minimum and preserve a centralised UK at whatever cost. Unfortunately, England will be left to bear the cost of preserving the remnants of an outdated constitutional structure. The morsel offered is unsatisfactory.

 It is meant to provide a minimalist answer to the West Lothian Question but it does not deal with the many other ways in which the people of England are discriminated against.

It will not provide England with a First Minister and an Executive that are able to initiate and pursue policies specifically concerned with English problems and priorities. In other words, MPs representing English constituencies will only be able to react to proposals put forward by the UK government. Even if MPs were able to initiate policy, they have neither the mandate nor commitment to promote purely English interests.

It will not provide an English equivalent to the system whereby Scottish interests are represented within the European Union and the UK government.

It does not address the issue of how England can benefit from devolution. The Conservative Party opposes the Government's Regional policy because it sees it as unwanted, unneeded, bureaucratic and costly. But is there a commitment to dismantle the regions? Are there plans to introduce a different method for decentralising power?

It does not address the unfair system of funding which makes it possible for public spending (per head) to be significantly higher in Scotland and Wales than in England.

Unfortunately, all three of the main political parties are guilty of the double standard that recognises Scotland and Wales as countries and natural political entities but sees England as a constitutional inconvenience that needs to be dismembered, patronised or ignored. England needs a well thought out constitutional arrangement that is designed to serve the long-term interests of the people of England. It does not need an arrangement that is cobbled together to serve the interests of individual political parties