Devolution and The West Lothian Question
Following the first elections to the newly created Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly in 1999, England was left as the only country in the United Kingdom with no separate representative body, although the Northern Ireland Assembly has been subject to periods of suspension. The West Lothian question which was posed by the Scottish MP Tam Dalyell in the 1970s is wide open:
| “ | If power over Scottish affairs is devolved to a Scottish Parliament, how can it be right that MPs representing Scottish constituencies in the Parliament of the United Kingdom still have the power to vote on equivalent issues affecting England and other parts of the UK, but not Scotland? | ” |
Although the Welsh Assembly originally had no primary legislative (law-making) powers in areas where it has been devolved from the Parliament of the United Kingdom with the introduction of the Government of Wales Act 1998 which set it up, primary legislative powers were introduced and more areas were devolved to the Welsh Assembly with the superseding Government of Wales Act 2006; there is a chance the introduction of an English Parliament would result in the Assembly gaining full legislative competence and becoming a Welsh Parliament. Of the mainstream political parties in Wales, only Plaid Cymru (which wants outright independence) and the Liberal Democrats support this. Scotland and Northern Ireland already have separate legal systems and laws, so the delegation of legislative authority does not cause any such issues.
Read more about this topic: Devolved English Parliament
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