Saturday, January 20, 2007

Urge Your MP to Sign EDM 670 on an English Parliament

Frank Field has tabled Early Day Motion 670 noting that voters have put the issue of an English parliament at the top of their priorities for constitutional reform. If you agree with this, write to your own MP and urge him or her to sign it too.

EDM 670

ENGLISH PARLIAMENT
17.01.2007
Field, Frank
Andrew Rosindell
James Gray
Lindsay Hoyle
David Taylor
Peter Luff

That this House notes that those polls that have questioned the English report a clear majority in favour of an English parliament; and further notes that it is this issue, and not Scottish independence or even House of Lords reform, that is the issue that voters now put at the top of their priorities for constitutional reform.

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't and won't.

Just like I don't agree to Scottish independence or Welsh devolution.

This is too small an island to divide. And local government costs even more money and for what improvements exactly?

Make/retain the Houses of Parliament the key body for all, I say. We need consistency across our land. We already have cancer sufferers in England wishing they lived in or have moved to Scotland to get the treatment they deserve (and have paid for in taxes, just like anyone in the UK). And still on the NHS side, we still have stupid rules applying to England and Wales that mean Wales appears to have it so good. (It doesn't. It's just more bureaucracy and admin and hence more cost per script on the west. Someone prove me wrong here? I'd be delighted to hear it.)

I'm 44 and I've heard/seen it all before. It's time for some cost cutting and saving. We can't afford to pander to further ineffective development of the public sector. Neither can we can afford to pander to "national" egos in situ.

We need to be joined as one country with consistency for all. We need sensible economic management.

But who can provide this at the next election? (When we'll be entertaining a recession and bitter as hell...)

Anonymous said...

Indeed. Mind won't sign it, though. He follows the Party line and Cameron has recently said that he will categorically NOT support an English Parliament.

I expect that, just like in Scotland, when we get it, he will be begging us to let him in. No doubt he will do the apologies and say sorry for calling the English, "Sour little Englanders, who do not show enough respect to Scotland."

There are a few thousand people in the country who are making sure that others know what he said about us all.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm...last time I was in London, a couple of years back I grant you, I seem to think it was in England [subs please check]. And I am pretty sure that somewhere near the river there was indeed a Parliament building, just by Big Ben [or at least the clock tower which holds Big Ben, fact fans!]

So isn't the campaign for an English Parliament a couple of hundred years too late ?

Of course, since I was there they could have sold the place off and turned it into funky flats with the obligatory percentage of 'social housing' included. But what has become of the previous occupiers one wonders ?

Perhaps Mr Dale can enlighten us on this ?

Anonymous said...

Sorry, mate, but my MP is 'Red' Dawn.
There is about as much chance of her doing something which will upset her leader as of doing something which will remove her face from Gordon Broon's bottom

Anonymous said...

100% agreed with the first post by anon.

We should NOT be accepting current terms of Scottish and Welsh parliaments/assemblies as it is. By asking for an English parliament we are giving in, when the opportunity to reverse the current situation will come round eventually.

As far as I'm concerned us conservatives should be trying to cut unnecessary bureaucracy and concentrate on a powerful but minimal central government. This applies to the Union as much as England.

Anonymous said...

The whole devolution was botched in the first place. Why didn't MP's just split time between Parliaments. 3 weeks in London and 1 week in their country. It's no wonder a Scottish MP has the time to be a minister. They have a SMP doing their work in a smaller seat than average.

Anonymous said...

My MP is Corbyn who is the hole of an arse. I ssomehow doubt he will be listening to me . Actually he knows who I am after certain... ahem...exchanges at public meetings

Nonetheless I will write . I have never understood why you feel an actula Parliament is necessary though ?
Why not Emglish votes . Cheap simple and easy

Little Black Sambo said...

Wwe already have an English parliament. The question ought to be: on what terms should Scotch MPs be admitted to it.

Anonymous said...

This is a crazy idea!

wonkotsane said...

Greg said...
Who the hell do you think is going to staff this "English Parliament"?

How about some of the 650+ British MP's whcih can be whittled down by at least 75% when most of their job is taken off them

I'm sorry to tell all you anonymous naysayers that you're in the minority. Poll after poll is showing growing support for an English Parliament. It will happen and why shouldn't it? If it's good enough for the celtic fring then why isn't it good enough for us? Why should we accept foreign rule by MP's elected in another country interfering in things that don't affect their own constitutency? Was Gordon Brown elected on the basis of his policies on devolved issues? No. Nor were any of the other MP's elected in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland who continue to interfere in legislation that only affects England.

Anonymous said...

Thats right, good old tories berry your blue rinses in the sand.
The English people have never had a vote on the regionalisation uber EUssr plans first drawn up by that traitor Heath.
Ignore progressive and honest parties at yuor peril.
Speaking to an ex major General and Knight of the realm befor Christmas, he could not contain his anguish at the direction Cameron is taking the Torries.
He was another who openly addmited was for ukip, I did not have the heart to inform him about the Eeglish Democrats.
The Three main parties have under estimated the power of the web, they can no longer conceal the truth.

Anonymous said...

Well done Frank Field for this EDM - and Iain for backing it. The government's failure to establish a parliament for the c 52 million people of England who are forced to subsidise the parliament of the c 5 million people of Scotland is a shameful stain on the democracy of the British Isles.

Anonymous said...

Frank Field is a parliamentary champion; he is informed to a degree most of us could not aspire.

He is straightforward and wholly reasonable (look at his approach to the welfare state).

He is a democrat in the obvious, English meaning of the term, that is, moved by a notion of fairness, responsibility and answerability in the use of power, not its arrogation to ideologically imposed categories or classes that conform to nothing that makes up English political history or culture.

If he seeks an English Parliament then I am writing as requested.

Anonymous said...

Sorry Iain, but this whole devolution nonsense should not be encouraged, especially by the Conservative and Unionist Party.

Why not offer the Scots a simple choice: independence or incorporating union? The last thing any part of the UK needs is more government.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry to tell all you anonymous naysayers that you're in the minority. Poll after poll is showing growing support for an English Parliament. It will happen and why shouldn't it? If it's good enough for the celtic fringe then why isn't it good enough for us? Why should we accept foreign rule by MP's elected in another country interfering in things that don't affect their own constitutency?
(Wonkotsane)

Exactly! For the first time that I can ever recall, an overwhelming majority of us in England are seething with anger and demanding an end to this outrageous denial of democracy to our country. My postwoman was up in arms about it this week.

England's electorate have effectively been disenfranchised by this, Scots dominated, government.

Anonymous said...

This is too small an island to divide (anonymous 1.47 AM)

Tell that to Denmark (5-6 million people) and countless other countries with a tenth of England's, ever rising, population - currently at c 52 million.

Anonymous said...

Anon. 2:12 PM

The United Kingdom is already regionalised/devolved.

Most of its regions, and all but one of those carved out of England, have no elected representatives, just locally and centrally nominated bodies.

Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Greater London have Assemblies elected by proportional representation.

The electorate does not want regional assemblies, except for the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish, who interpret them as national rather than regional entities.

The English express a clear preference for a single, English Assembly, and for this they would be prepared to vote.

So if you think 'this whole devolution nonsense should not be encouraged, especially by the Conservative and Unionist Party' you need to consider what that party did when in power to bring the current situation about.

More importantly, you need to make proposals that fit the current reality better than
' offer the Scots a simple choice: independence or incorporating union? The last thing any part of the UK needs is more government.'

In asking for constitutional reform that embodies something that is wanted by the English and fits European Union realities, Frank Field shows his usual mastery of political and constitutional fact.

Philipa said...

I don't and won't either - a stupid and dangerous idea.
And ditto 1st comment.

Anonymous said...

What do the "don't and won't" 's want then?

End the 4 regional elected assemblies we have currently? The Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish might take a view; I'm not sure about Greater London.

Impose elections on the non-elected English regions? For the North East has already voted elections down with decided referendum majorities.

Abandon European Union regionalisation policy? How do we get our EU tax payments redistributed back to us? And can we abandon such a fundamental EU decision?

What means do you suggest for obtaining the democratic and transparent spending of EU tax resources in the regions of England?

Little Black Sambo said...

Great Britain is not a small island but a very large one. People who call it a small island are telling us something about themselves.

Anonymous said...

Frank Field is a parliamentary champion; he is informed to a degree most of us could not aspire.

He is straightforward and wholly reasonable (look at his approach to the welfare state).



Hooray , even from the wide open mental spaces of Autralia HG returns like an avenging angel to tell us whats what. I could not agree with you more on Frank Field HG and I suspect we have both recently read the link provided chez Croydonian . It was striking .
What am I saying ?HG has probably
been listening to it on her head phones as she jogs around the place honing herself to a pitch of perfection , for years.

HG On your suggestion that the Conservative Party helped bring about devolution well sort of . Half the Conservative party rebelled on the issue of making devolution a UK wide referendum. The Conservative Party`s attachment to the Union has been a noble demonstration of the moral depth of the Party when electorally its continuation has been disastorous.
I am slightly underwhelmed by the idea that an English Parliament as a fitting alternative to the pointless regions.An Englsih Parliament is required because the Scots want nothing to do with us.Curremtly there is an obviously absurd democratic problem and a taxation problem.

Personally i cannot see what the porblem with english votes is and if sonmeone would explain I`d be grateful. An English parliament would inaffect exist and in it we might more reasonbaly discuss what exctaly we want to do about the EU

Anonymous said...

Oh small Island are we .Clearly noone here is engaged in a commercial enterprise.Its the profits not the turnover stupid

Anonymous said...

My MP has his tongue so far up the new labour rectum that he's tickling tonsils.

I'll do it anyway as I know he loves to hear from me.

Anonymous said...

Great Britain is not a small island but a very large one. People who call it a small island are telling us something about themselves. (LBS)

Exactly, LBS. It's those nay sayers who are the 'sour little Englanders', not us who want out of this toxic Union.

Anonymous said...

7.17 It's such a constitutional mess. If I might try to clear my own mind, these are some of the issues. The European Union budget is tiny - 1.2 % of European GDP. However there are all kinds of fiscal constraints, monetary policy constraints, harmonisation of this and that, and this is what limits and shapes domestic policy and the range of policies that can be adopted, nationally and regionally; this is what it is about, rather than carving up of vast sums of tax cash.

Of the cash, all of it goes to agriculturalists and EU defined 'deprived' regions. But if England had an elected assembly, at least there would be democratic input on all these choices.

That the Assemblies are elected by proportional representation makes trouble, too, for an English Assembly. It's not just a matter of having 'days' for English business and others for United Kingdom business, in the Westminster Parliament as it stands.

Frank Field is one of the few who is able to have thought it all through. Perhaps he would set out the problems and why he proposes the solution of an English Assembly for us all.

Anonymous said...

a brummie

Did you MP every write in the Spectator

Anonymous said...

Iain, your reaction to comments to date, please?

Anonymous said...

I am the original anon (nick name now attached) and may I say more please (albeit short of an essay, as I have been so instructed along with others) as well as answer some points, hopefully.

I am Welsh and was living in England when the vote for independent government took place. As a result, I didn't get a vote. The "Welsh abroad" didn't matter, even though anyone of any origins living in Wales could vote at the time. (I'm not bitter about the vote, I have to assert; but I am bitter about developments from it.)

The results of that vote were this close (quotes from wiki, so take the accuracy as you feel fit): only 50.1% of the relevant "electorate" voted; of that 50.3% supported a Welsh Assembly, 49.7% did not. So, on a turnout of about half the electorate, the votes of 0.6% of the electorate resulted in an Assembly. Not a standing ovation, is it?

On the backs of silent hard working civil servants, the original Welsh Office could have achieved what the Assembly has achieved to date (on important matters); without the new building, new debating room and comms tools and the need to deal with AMs' egos.

And do get through the hype when it comes to the NHS. Cheap sripts, yes. But a max of one month's supply per item to the regulars, whereas in England it's two months' worth. (Another spin of farce.) Waiting lists are the same if not longer and ambulance services are now in complete disrepute. I also suspect that the "NHS financial crisis" has recently led to a short-term closure of theatres, but I don't have the evidence. It's only hearsay. And one "good thing" to come of the Assembly set up is that Wales doesn't make the UK media headlines so much any more. (NHS stats also exclude Wales in the main.)

The Welsh pay more for mismanagement of their public services.

The UK is a small island but with a big economy on the world's stage. I've often felt it is a paradox to subscribe to the bigger picture of the EU and yet to entertain devolution within our boundaries. Surely we need more unity and not division?

Anonymous said...

Iain, this a very good idea and I have written to my M.P. as suggested. The English people need proper representation and opinion polls demonstrate the amount of unease regarding the democratic deficit since devolution. The comments of many other contributors to this issue reveal how badly informed many people still are.

Anonymous said...

"this, Scots dominated, government."

Really? Out of the twenty three Cabinet places on this government only five are held by MPs representing Scottish constituencies.

"No doubt he will do the apologies and say sorry for calling the English, "Sour little Englanders, who do not show enough respect to Scotland.""

Actually, what David Cameron said was:

"Alex Salmond couldn't ask for more effective allies in his campaign to break up the Union than sour Little Englanders who cry 'good riddance' when independence for Scotland is suggested."

If the hat didn't fit you wouldn't need to wear it.

Lies, lies, and more lies! Not the best way to start your 'campaign for justice', is it lads?