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House of Commons (Participation) Bill

Shortly after the Bill’s promoter began his speech, he admitted that he wanted to entitle it the ““Scotland Act (Amendment ) Bill””. I wish that he had been allowed to do that because it would have highlighted to hon. Members and the wider public the far-reaching consequences of the modestly titled measure. Indeed, a more accurate title would have been the ““Slow Unravelling of the Union Bill”” because that would be its result. The majority of hon. Members would not support such a process. I accept that there is an anomaly, but, as I said earlier, when considering whether to tackle it, we must ask ourselves whether our proposed solution will lead to worse consequences than those that the anomaly creates. The Bill’s consequences would be serious. Several hon. Members referred to the procedural difficulties that could arise from it and they should not be minimised. We have discussed defining measures that apply only to Scotland or only to England and Wales. I noted with some amusement the straight face that the hon. Member for Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Mr. MacNeil) kept when he told us that the only reason he voted in debates about apparently English measures was to do with their content and nothing to do with embarrassing the Government. Whatever people’s motivations for voting, difficulties face anyone who tries to define what constitutes a Scottish-only or English-only Bill. I remember the former Member for part of the constituency that is now represented by my hon. Friend the Member for Dumfries and Galloway (Mr. Brown) proudly announcing that he would not vote on English measures. He was later revealed to have voted on the Mersey Tunnels Bill. I know that much rethinking is happening in the Scottish Conservative party, but suggesting that that measure could apply to Scotland is surely blue skies thinking at its most generous.