{Afternoon # 1 Issue} Hague attacks Labour over Evel move William Hague has urged MPs to get behind Conservative plans for English votes for English laws as Labour said it would not to take part in cross-party discussions on devolution. The Opposition confirmed earlier that it would not join the Commons Leaders Cabinet Committee on the issue, formed in the wake of the Scottish independence referendum. A source told PoliticsHome the party could not back a closed shop stitch up in a Cabinet room. As MPs began debating plans for devolution and the implications of the recent No vote, Mr Hague insisted it was right to address the question of representation for English parliamentarians. I reject at the outset the idea that fairness for England is disruptive or dangerous for the United Kingdom, he said. It is also part, as fairness to Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland have been, of keeping the United Kingdom together. He said the Government would consider Labours plans for a constitutional convention on wider reform on the right terms and at the right time, but blasted the Opposition as unwilling to cooperate to make progress. Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan hit back, accusing ministers of offering rushed, cobbled together solutions to complex devolutional questions because they were scared of Ukip. What we need to guard against... is a situation which would lead to two tiers of MPs, he said. And we also need to be honest just how few bills that are debated in this house are truly England-only, or England and Wales only. Some suggested that in 2012 and 13 there was one England-only Bill. The House of Commons library are rightly reluctant to put out an exact figure on it given how complex a job this is. David Laws, who sits on the Cabinet Committee, earlier expressed concern over the issue but attacked Labours stance. With more devolution on its way to Scotland, the issue of English and Welsh votes must be resolved, he said. It is because we are determined to avoid a Conservative stitch up on this issue that the Liberal Democrats have put forward our own proposals. We want fair votes for English and Welsh laws, not Tory votes for English and Welsh laws. Labour is ducking the issue to protect its own narrow political interest. They should put the national interest first and participate in this process, not just shrug their shoulders and walk away from it. Alex Salmond has accused Westminster politicians of gearing up to betray the Scottish people over the vow to give the Scottish Parliament increased powers and a fair share of resources. The Scottish First Minister this morning said there was a huge gap emerging between what Westminster politicians had promised Scottish voters and what they were preparing to deliver.
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 13:55:32 +0000
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