Originally Posted by Andrew Constantine

Danny

"When I was an ED" ... I used to get cross with those who said that if the English Parliament was revived, then its importance would automatically de-stabalise the Union.

I think now that I was wrong then, and I now do agree with the proposition that an English parliament and a federal UK are basically incompatible.

To support my changed view, if I were a member of an English Parliament (yes, please to both) and, say, voted in a majority against another Iraq, I would hate to see the Scots or Welsh in a federal Parliament somehow voting with a minority of English federal MPs to take us to another Iraq war. I therefore think that an English Parliament would soon after its revival claim complete and total sovereignty in England - and quite rightly too.

If my new view is right, then there is perhaps a critical implication to consider ... in that an English Parliament might well decide that England is coming out of the EU unilaterally and we do not care what Scotland or Brussels thinks.

Where does this leave those (such as the FEDs) calling for an English Parliament within a federal UK?

In the long term, such a major policy platform is unsustainable and so I would not be surprised if the FEDs move to an independence policy some day. In their defence, they may well rationalise their present position by saying it is better to talk about just reforming the Union with an English Parliament (say, with the same powers as the present Scottish Parliament) as this causes "less alarm and opposition". It is a viewpoint which I personally no longer share, but it is one that is not totally without some merit.

What do you and others think?

Regards, Andrew