Cameron hosts 'English votes' summit

Written By Unknown on Senin, 22 September 2014 | 19.12

22 September 2014 Last updated at 12:06

David Cameron is hosting a summit of senior Conservative MPs at Chequers to discuss plans to limit the Commons voting rights of Scottish MPs.

The prime minister has said a pledge to give Scotland more powers should go hand in hand with changing the role of Scottish politicians at Westminster.

But Labour has accused Mr Cameron of "playing the English nationalist card".

The three main parties pledged more devolution during the campaign to encourage Scots to reject independence.

Scottish voters chose to stay part of the United Kingdom by 55% to 45% last Thursday.

Downing Street has insisted that more powers will be handed to Holyrood regardless of whether there is an agreement over so-called "English votes for English laws".

But Liberal Democrat cabinet minister Danny Alexander, who is among the party's 11 Scottish MPs, said Conservative "briefings" were "deeply frustrating" and had distracted from the cross-party commitment on devolution.

"It has always been the case that the Scottish process must be independent of any other political discussions and must be dealt with according to the timetable we set out," he told the Guardian newspaper.

"For wider constitutional changes it would be preferable to have all-party consensus."

What has been promised to Scotland?

David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg have pledged "extensive" new powers over tax, welfare and spending to the Scottish Parliament although their three parties differ over how much control Holyrood would have over income tax rates and other economic levers.

The leaders have agreed to abide by the principle that the UK exists to "ensure opportunity and security for all by sharing our resources equitably".

They have also insisted that the Barnett formula, the method used to determine the distribution of public spending around the UK per head of the population, will stay in place and that the final say on funding for the NHS will lie with the Scottish government.

Labour, which has 41 Scottish MPs, has said it is open to the idea of "greater scrutiny" by English MPs but has accused the prime minister of seeking to rail-road through the changes.

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls said he wanted fairness for England but there was no "simple solution" to the current situation, pointing to the fact that most of the tax and spending decisions he would have to take if he was in the Treasury affected the whole of the UK.

"I think David Cameron is just trying to dupe people with the idea that he has got some easy, quick political fix," he told BBC Radio 4's Today. "You can't play political games with our constitution...

"The danger is that the Conservatives are now going to completely destabilise the fairness, accountability and stability of the union by suddenly trying to play an English nationalist card,"

'Balance the kingdom'

The Chequers summit of MPs comes amid disquiet on the Tory backbenches about the promises made to Scotland during the referendum campaign.

Among those due to join the summit are John Redwood, who wants to see an English parliament, and Bernard Jenkin who has called for the UK to move to a federal system.

Mr Redwood, a former Welsh secretary, said some Tory MPs felt that "if Scotland is to have more devolved power we too need our own devolved government to balance the kingdom".

Another attendee, Stockton South MP James Wharton, said it had to be recognised that "change in one place has a knock-on effect on others" and a fair arrangement was needed for all the English regions, as well as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

"We don't just need English votes for English laws," he told BBC News. "Whatever happens in Scotland has to have a quid pro quo so that the north of England does not lose out."

Also expected at the meeting are former Foreign Secretary William Hague, Chief Whip Michael Gove and Dominic Grieve, until recently attorney general.

BBC political correspondent Vicki Young said the gathering was also intended as a "signal to English voters that [Mr Cameron] is protecting their interests".

Labour, meanwhile, is to reach out to those of its supporters who voted to leave the UK. Shadow Scottish secretary Margaret Curran will tell delegates at their conference in Manchester that leading figures from the party will visit the 10 parts of Scotland with the highest "Yes" vote.

They will meet Labour supporters who voted in favour of independence in an effort to learn why they wanted the country to leave the UK.


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