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House of Commons (Participation) Bill

Certain electoral matters clearly are reserved, although I suspect that if the Conservatives had more Members representing Scottish constituencies, they might have chosen to put them on the Committee that I mentioned. It is ironic that the Bill would prevent Scottish MPs from voting on certain legislation, yet the person who would decide that is himself a Scottish Member of Parliament. Certain Tories have suggested, and been hastily slapped down by their leader, that it may well be impossible for a Member of Parliament representing a Scottish constituency to be Prime Minister. If the Bill were passed, I wonder whether we would start to hear it suggested by the Conservatives that Scottish MPs should not apply for the role of Speaker. That would be extremely regrettable. The prospect of two classes of MP at Westminster has been discussed and has far-reaching implications. That would be very divisive and dangerous, and would be a slippery slope. This week we rejected the idea of a hybrid House of Lords by voting for a second Chamber that was 100 per cent. elected. It would be strange to suggest a hybrid House of Commons. Under the Scotland Act 1998, legislation can still be imposed on Scotland by the House. Section 28(7) states:"““This section does not affect the power of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to make laws for Scotland.””" That is quite clear. Power is devolved to Holyrood; it is not ceded or given away. It would be dangerous to deprive Scottish MPs of the right to debate and vote on legislation, without removing the power of this Parliament to legislate for Scotland in those areas. Some kind of federal structure would correct that. I would favour a situation where the powers of the Scottish Parliament were outlined and could not be overruled by this House, but that has been rejected by Conservatives in the past. Indeed, they rejected the whole concept of devolution, although the hon. Member for North Dorset seems to have recognised that he may have been misguided in that earlier belief. One of my main concerns about the Bill is the constitutional chaos that it would cause. That is not just my view but that of the Constitution Unit at UCL, which says that the policy of English votes for English MPs"““would cause a constitutional crisis far greater than the West Lothian question itself.””" A brief look at the role of statutory instruments and what would happen in relation to the London assembly and the Northern Ireland Assembly gives some idea of the mess that would be created. Let us take that to its logical conclusion. It would be a stepping stone to a English Parliament within a UK Parliament. We can imagine a scenario in which one party has a majority among UK Members of Parliament and another among English Members. On certain topics and certain Bills, the UK Government would not be able to get their business through.