DOING NO EVEL…

Plaid Cymru is in principle in favour of English votes for English laws. But for an EVEL system to work there has to be a real equality of powers amongst the nations or else we risk ending up with a complete constitutional and legislative shambles. We cannot either have a situation whereby Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish MPs are barred from voting on matters that have a direct funding implication for those nations and that's why the Barnett Formula should be scrapped and replaced with a fairer funding settlement. Our family of nations is going through a period of rapid change, and Plaid Cymru wants to see us develop into a family of equals, but with the half-baked proposals outlined by the unionist parties that is just not going happen. The real danger is that Wales gets left behind and the only way we can stop this happening is by having a strong representation of Plaid Cymru MPs making the case for Wales in Westminster. Only Plaid Cymru will look after Wales’ interests no one else.

ENGLAND AND WALES

Plaid Cymru, because of the Westminster Government’s announcement on English Votes for English Laws, has renewed the call for a separate Welsh legal jurisdiction and called time on the "old and outdated" 'England and Wales' unit. Plaid Cymru has long advocated the devolution of the criminal justice system to Wales and the creation of a separate Welsh legal jurisdiction, said that if MPs from England are to be granted a veto over some votes, then the constitutional boundaries between England and Wales must be far clearer. This would bring greater clarity as to what is 'England only’ and what isn't and would end the anomaly of Wales being the only country in the world with a legislature but no jurisdiction of its own.

Plaid Cymru Parliamentary Leader, Elfyn Llwyd MP, speaking in London, said:

"In principle, Plaid Cymru is supportive of English Votes for English Laws, but these reforms must not come about in isolation.

"We have long argued for all nations of the UK to be treated on the basis of equality - both in terms of funding and powers.

"If EVEL goes ahead it must go hand in hand with home rule all round and the Barnett formula must be replaced in order to address the chronic underfunding of Wales.

"The blurred constitutional boundaries between England and Wales must also be more clearly delineated. 

"The common sense approach to addressing this issue is the establishment of a separate Welsh legal jurisdiction - something which Plaid Cymru has advocated for many years.

"There is a growing legal body in Wales and increasing support among professionals for a Welsh jurisdiction. It is a complete anomaly that we have a full law-making institution yet lack the proper infrastructure for it to function as effectively as possible.

"As things stand, English Votes for English Laws will bring further complexity to Westminster's already multi-tiered system.

"Wales' democracy is maturing with the steady transfer of more powers from Westminster. It is high time the old and outdated 'England and Wales' unit was swept away and for our nation to be handed the proper tools to pass robust legislation and administer justice in a manner which serves the best interests of the Welsh people."

AT HAGUE’S COMMAND?

The Conservatives sudden interest in "English votes for English laws” something conveniently happens to put the Labour Party in Westminster an awkward spot, in relation to the status of its Welsh and Scottish elected representatives, may be purely coincidental or it may not. Aside from mixing things up for the Labour Party, one of the main reasons why the Conservative Party has developed a keen interest in all things ‘English’ is because the UK Independence Party has emerged from the shadows calling loudly for the reform of the governance of England – something that has been independently confirmed by the most recent report of the Future of England Survey (FoES).

The survey’s findings don’t make comfortable reading for the Conservative part of the Con Dem coalition government. The study has noted a clear and growing dissatisfaction among English voters at the way the UK’s most populous nation is governed and a preference for an England-wide political institution to represent English interests. Although the current Conservative leaders preferred option of English Votes for English Laws (EVEL) has the most widespread support, it is short of a majority and, when voters in England are asked who best represents the interests of England, both Mr Cameron and the Conservative party are well behind Nigel Farage and UKIP.

Yet when it comes to finding an answer to the English Question, voters continue to place concerns over the governance of England well behind worries about the influence of the EU. However, there is a clear dissatisfaction with the current arrangements for governing England – with no more than a quarter preferring the status quo. The study noted that if somewhat more tentatively; the support for EVEL appears to be the preferred choice of voters – again short of a majority – and has gained popularity compared to the earlier FoES studies in 2013 and 2012.

Support for an English Parliament is of the same order of magnitude as support for the status quo whereas support for localism either in the form of regional assemblies or enhanced local government remains very low. While David Cameron’s suggested answer to the English question may be slightly ahead but there is growing evidence that neither he nor his party is trusted to deliver it. When asked “Which party best stands up for the interests of England?”, the Conservatives ironically came fourth (16%), behind UKIP (23%), ‘None of the Above’ (19%) and Labour (17%), although well ahead of the Lib Dems (4%). Much the same pattern is seen in terms of the party leaders.

Interestingly enough when asked which leader best stands up for English interests, Nigel Farage was voters’ first choice (22%) his nearest rival though isn’t even another party leader, it was the ‘None of the Above’ option which came in second place, with 21% of the survey’s 3,705 respondents in England dismissing all of the available political leaders. Mr Cameron is third on 15%, just ahead of Ed Miliband on 13%. The Deputy Prime Minister’s rating matched those of his party and, at 4%, slightly behind Boris Johnson on 9%.

The Con Dems in Westminster have now issued a Command Paper with a number of different options in relation to the problem of English votes for English laws an issue that which been quietly rumbling away in the background since the 1990’s. William Hague’s Command Paper included four main options:

• Simply excluding Scottish and Northern Irish MPs from any role in English and Welsh bills and limiting England-only bills to English MPs
• Basically allowing only English MPs, or English and Welsh MPs, to consider relevant bills during their committee and report stages, where amendments are tabled and agreed, before allowing all MPs to vote on the final bill
• Allowing only English MPs, or English and Welsh MPs, to consider relevant bills at committee stage and giving them a effective veto in a separate vote before their third reading
• There was even a Lib Dem plan for the establishment of a grand committee of English MPs, with the right to veto legislation applying only England, with its members based on the share of the vote.

These, to varying degrees subject to safeguards cold be said to be reasonable options and despite the bluster from Westminster and the Labour Party, potentially sensible and fair solution which could be worked out, given sufficient time and effort on the part of the Westminster based and focused political parties. The problem is that the on-going row over the issue could result in the real issue of the legislative imbalance between the different nations and regions within these islands continuing to remain unresolved.

Part of the problem can be put down to the overly complex nature of legislation, as bills that appear to relate to England only can include some well buried clauses that relate to Wales, some of which could have significant and potentially unforeseen consequences for our country. The way the budget works at the moment, means that if Welsh MPs are excluded from voting on English measures there could be a real negative impact on the Welsh budget. At a very basic level this would be both unfair and unjust.  

What’s needed is the implementation of a much more sensible and balanced devolution settlement whereby the four constituent parts of the British State have the same legislative and executive powers. Unless this happens then any drift (and drift may be a fair description) towards developing “English Votes for English Laws” would be pretty difficult to enforce and could result in the existence several different tiers of MPs.

The consistent failure over the last 15 years to address the imbalance between powers and funding in constituent parts of the UK along with cumulative nature of the fudged and bodged nature of the devolution settlement can no longer be ignored. The way things stand at the moment the Westminster based and focused political parties are treating Wales as a second-class nation and will they may pay for this at the ballot box next May, at least in Wales.