George Young responds to David Nuttall MP.
Will the Leader of the House please find time for a debate on the unfairness arising from the fact that Members of Parliament who represent constituencies in Scotland can vote on matters such as education and schools that affect my constituents, but that I and other Members who represent seats in England have no reciprocal right to vote on matters affecting education in Scotland?
My hon. Friend might be familiar with a document that was published in the last Parliament by the Democracy Taskforce, of which I was a member, which addressed the West Lothian question. If he looks at the coalition agreement, he will see that our proposal to deal with this anomaly is to set up a commission to look into the issue and to report back with proposals.
Let me get this right. Your proposal is to set up a commission to report back with proposals?
So when will this commission begin, who will be on it and how do I have my say; and what was the purpose of the Democracy Task Force and the countless occasions before that when George Young personally advocated 'English Votes on English Laws' and promised us that a Conservative Government would implement that policy?
I once attended a Tory fringe event in Bournmouth to hear George Young speak about the English Question. I challenged him from the floor to offer my opinion that his EVoEL policy was unworkable and he couldn't explain how it would work, and to ask him what his objection to an English parliament was. The patronising beanpole calmly dismissed me and assured his audience that an English parliament was not necessary because his policy of English Votes on English Laws was the answer.
So implement it then!