Englander 1

The English Democrats were invited to submit a view on the West Lothian Question for publication in the Conservative Group's Annual publication called Progressus. The idea is for people from different political points of view to be able to put forward their take on issues of the day.

It was with much pleasure the English Democrats Party co-operated to bring the light to St. Andrew's here for the benefit of the wider English Community is a copy of the paper, which you may find helpful in constructing letters and explanations in our qider quest for self determination and an end to the English Question.

Answering West Lothian - a missed opportunity?
Coming to politics in my mid 40’s and after a successful business career I have been both disappointed and genuinely shocked at what passes for democracy in England in 2008.

Part of our national pastime is to let trip from our tongue the widely held belief that we live in a democracy, we have freedom of speech and a political class that is largely corruption free and serves the interests of the people it seeks to represent. In fact we have been telling ourselves this for decades, but have done little to ensure that the reality matches the rhetoric, recent events show us the serious flaws in our democratic system.

The 1998 Devolution settlement, for me, as an Englishwoman, epitomises everything that is wrong with our political parties, political classes and democratic machinery.

10 years on from devolution, I still find it hard to believe that the issue of English Devolution has not been properly aired, debated or voted on. I also find it an absurd situation that Scotland a nation with 5 million people has its own Parliament and First Minister, yet England a nation of 50 million people does not have its own Parliament nor its own first minister, to me and thousands like me this state of affairs is inexplicable.

I would like to explore why England has been so poorly served by her politicians.

Before Menzies Campbell resigned from the leadership of the Liberal Democrats, a rather
worrying picture of our political classes was beginning to emerge. For most of last year the only three political parties England had were all led by Scotsmen, and I include David Cameron (from the clan Cameron) in that. For a few months last year when Gordon Brown and Menzies Campbell headed two of the three main parties we had two “leaders” who were both signatories to the Scottish Claim of Right, and for those unfamiliar with the Scottish Claim of Right or its implications I refer you to Early Day Motion 266, which exposes the shocking truth that sits behind “British Politics”.

In effect, both Menzies Campbell and Gordon Brown have both made a solemn commitment to ensure that “in all things the interests of the Scottish people are paramount”. To my knowledge David Cameron is not a signatory to the Scottish Claim of Right, however, when asked about the unfairness of the Barnett Formula allocations he indicated that he would not be changing them adding “I have a lot of Scottish blood in these veins” , and more recently in an article covered by the Telegraph Newspaper concluded that it would be better to have an unfair devolution settlement (for England) rather than threaten the future of the Union. An astonishing admission by a leader representing a party that relies on English votes to gain political office.

The English are in an invidious position, major Scottish funders keep all three political
parties buoyed by donations that ensure Scottish interests are at all times protected. Additionally, all three parties are largely led by Scots or have a disproportionate Scottish contingent within them.

It is amusing to hear Scots ridicule any suggestion that they should be excluded from voting on purely English matters at Westminster, as if this was some kind of absurd aberration dreamt up by the political equivalent of the flat Earth society, when they have no compunction about denying English MPs rights to vote on purely Scottish matters and regard it as a “right” that they should have their own Parliament.

For many in England, Scotland is dangerously overplaying its hand, in denying England her own parliament on the absurd pretext that it would create “two kinds of MP”, they blithely ignore the fact that there are already two kinds of MP, those that can vote in a Scottish Parliament and on Scottish affairs and those that can’t - and worse than that the bizarre anomaly that England should have ministers elected by Scotland that run purely English affairs, (Transport and Health being cases in point,) when they have no mandate from the people of England!

Many of us in the evolving English movement are bemused at the oft heard complaint from Scotland about how Margaret Thatcher inflicted the poll tax on them, an unfair and unwarranted tax that resulted in riots and an end to Thatcher’s reign as primeminister. I think at that time the proposed council tax was going to be about £300 per person per annum. The Scots had no fit of conscience however, imposing the £3,000 per annum top up fee tax on English Students, effectively an “education tax” applicable only to England, forced through by the votes of five Scottish elected MPs voting at Westminster on a purely English matter.

To add insult to injury the Scots rejected top up fees for themselves, but through the machinations of the ludicrous Barnett Formula gained handsomely by imposing top up fees on English Students, the resultant increased tax take directly benefiting the Scottish education system!

It is examples of these manifest unfairnesses that make the usually placid and amenable English extremely angry. Many of us think with “friends” like these who needs enemies?

Are our political parties up in arms about the unfairnesses faced by the people of England? No. Do you hear English elected MPs challenge anti English discrimination? No. Why aren’t English MPs demanding to know why, if as per the 1707 Act of Union all members of the Union are not being “treated equally”?. The English consistently find themselves more heavily taxed, have less public money allocated to them and are denied a range of benefits available to both Scotland and Wales? To the English the Union has become a byword for unfairness and exploitation.

One thing we can be sure about, had the Scots been the only country in the Union to have £3,000 top up fees imposed on them, the only ones not to be given a parliament or first minister, or the only ones to be denied life saving drugs available to those living in Wales and England we would have had rioting and probably pitched battles on the streets. It is to England’s eternal credit that we have not resorted to such behaviour and an indictment of the neglect, incompetence and naked self interest of our political classes that the intolerable anomaly of the West Lothian Question has neither been asked or answered.

If we truly live in a democratic society then it is the people of England who should vote for their First Minister. No one in England has ever voted for Gordon Brown, he is First Minister of England without a mandate.

If we truly have free speech, there should be a national debate in England promoted by the BBC to address the anomaly of the West Lothian Question. Rather than the current suppression of dissent across the tightly owned and managed media, made possible by a clutch of politicians who are content to silence opposition and public debate, for fear the obscenity suffered by England becomes widely known and understood and the English backlash fierce and unpredictable.

10 years on England deserves the chance to express her own views, we do not need a Scottish mouthpiece like Lord Rifkind tell us what he would like to see for England’s devolution – the people of England want the politicians to start listening for a change and acting in the best interest of England, something that hasn’t been done for a long, long time. Let the English speak for a change, we have heard enough Scots pontificate.

The Conservatives evaded the devolution debate in Scotland and were punished severely for it. Now they have one last chance to do the honourable thing.

It is vital an English Parliament is implemented, England is an ancient and historic nation in her own right. Opinion polls are between 60-68% in favour of an English Parliament. Regionalisation has less than 10% support. Without her own Parliament England will administratively cease to exist if Labour’s plans for splitting England into regions succeed – the Conservatives seem oblivious to the danger and continue to waffle on about this being a threat to Britain. Without England there is no Britain and unless the Conservatives fight to save England they run the risk of losing both England and Britain and the trust of the English people.

I sincerely hope good sense, fairness and justice for the people of England prevails and that English Conservatives learn from their past mistakes in Scotland and seek not to let history repeat itself.


Christine Constable

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"There is a forgotten, nay almost forbidden word, which means more to me than any other.
That word is ENGLAND." - Sir Winston Churchill

Johnny Hates Jazz

Most grass roots conservatives have a great deal of sympathy with English Democrats policies.

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English Democrats SAY NO To European Union

English not British not European
- It's time to decide at the 2009 European Elections

Westcountryman

Most grass root Conservatives also have a great deal of sympathy with UKIP...

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Manus haec inimica tyrannis ense petit placidam sub libertate quietam - "This hand of mine, which is hostile to tyrants, seeks by the sword quiet peace under liberty."

cassie

I do wish that she did not keep referring to the "West Lothian Question" - it is akin to constantly referring to the EU as 'Europe'! It would more appropriately be called the "England Question".

An attempt by a New Labour lackey posing as some kind of impartial academic to define the so called "West Lothian Question" is to be found in a note placed in the Commons library: http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib...snpc-02586.pdf

The key is in the phrase "legislation which extends to England" ie it is ENGLAND which is adversely affected.

If the waffle is excluded, the question may be more accurately described as: "the constitutional anomaly by which all Members of the House of Commons may vote on legislation affecting England, but none of them can vote on subjects which have been devolved elsewhere."

When account is taken of the fact that England accounts for some 84% of Great Britain's population, the travesty is truly exposed for what it is!

Scotland is not the equal of England, and never has been. One only has to look at the narrow, insular history of one compared with the outward, international history of the other.

The Conservative Party is too stupid to assess the true situation and modify its policy accordingly. It would have to set back the Scottish mafia in control of it to make progress. Yes, I mean not only Cameron, but Fox, Ancram, Gove, McIntosh, Rifkind, Duncan to name but a few who come to mind.

There are none so blind as those who do not wish to see etc . . .


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Tom Wilde

This is why people call it the West Lothian Question:

West Lothian question - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

cassie

So what?

If you want to go into pre-history, did you know that said saintly Tam Dalyell was a signatory to the Scottish Claim of Right? You know, he pledged that “in all things the interests of the Scottish people are paramount”.

Just because something has often or always been the case is not per se an argument for persisting in it! That's the old "two wrongs make a right" point rearing its ugly head again! (Lib Dems are very prone to use that. I hope Liberals are not!)

It is an anomaly, an injustice affecting England and should be referred to as such!

If you are disagreeing, do feel free to say so!


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Britannist

I agree with both of the above comments.

I would say that a big majority of grass root Conservatives have sympathy with the views of both the English Democrats and UKIP.

And I think that there are many Labour and Liberal 'Democrat' voters who also agree with UKIP on the EU and who share the aim of the English Democrats that England be given constitutional and financial equality with Scotland within the UK.