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EVALUATE THE VIEW THAT THERE SHOULD BE AN ENGLISH PARLIAMENT - Coggle…
EVALUATE THE VIEW THAT THERE SHOULD BE AN ENGLISH PARLIAMENT
It could potentially increase the divisions between England and the rest of the UK.
This could lead to more disunity as the First Minister could represent an obstacle to the UK PM if they felt Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales were being treated at the expense of English interests, or vice versa.
If an English Parliament was introduced, the First Minister of this English Parliament would have a considerable power base. For example, they would be in change of an elected body representing 85% of the UK population.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit, the UK is becoming disjointed, which is heightened by the growing calls for independence in Scotland.
It would resolve the West Lothian Question.
By introducing an English Parliament, democracy could be increased, as there would be more representation for the people who will actually be affected by these issues, rather than allowing people who won't be affected by these issues to have a say.
While it would resolve one issue by brining power closer to those actually affected, it could increase the prominence of another issue of disunity in the UK, making it ineffective.
In 2016 the government tried to relax Sunday trading laws to help shops, and was only to apply in England. However, it was blocked by the SNP.
Refers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland voting on our issues, but we can't vote on theirs.
Lack of demand for it in England.
Furthermore, having an English Parl isn't a salient issue for English people, unlike the economy or NHS. A Yougov poll showed most people, 46%, voted 'don't know' when asked if they supported the creation of a new English Parliament.
There's limited evidence that there is really a groundswell of opinion in favour of one, in contrast to Scotland before 1997.
For example, in 2004, 78% of voters in the North East voted against devolution, emphasising how there aren't strong regional identities.
Unwanted by the public, and unlikely to work well if there aren't strong enough English identities to encourage people to participate in its politics.
Many people don't embrace a common English identity, or have a strong regional identity in most regions, so the idea doesn't appeal to many.
Doesn't involve the creation of multiple different levels of govt, so its a neat solution.
Neat as it wouldn't involve the introduction of multiple different devolved bodies, where issues like how to organise the regions would need to be discussed.
Introducing something that there's a lack of demand for and when English lacks a sense of identity could encourage voter apathy.
Additionally, things could become more messy if the regions began to fight against themselves to have the same amount of power and money.
In 2017, turnout in mayoral elections was all in the 20% range, which demonstrates the little enthusiasm amongst the public for extra political bodies and elections.
This is much less complex than other solutions that have been proposed. For example, using regionalism would involve creating regional assemblies in many areas within England, which would be a very messy division.
Introducing an English Parliament as a solution is relatively simple, as it would be part of a federal UK and have similar powers to the Welsh Assembly.
Costs and funding.
E.G. would it be funded by proportionately smaller grants from the UK govt, or would there be an element of self financing?
These questions just cause more confusion, which further alientates the public from the political process and creates more issues for politicians.
The devolved assemblies of Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland receive grants from the UK using the Barnett formula, which has led to questions over how an English Parl would be funded.
It would cost a lot of money to have a devolved English Parliament introduced.
Oblige England to pay more attention to its constitution.
Also, the introduction of an English Parliament could resolve the issue of the House of Lords, by taking over its facilities.
Much of the public are happy with an unentrenched, uncodified and unitary constitution, and don't desire reform for the House of Lords or the electoral system, which was demonstrated in the AV Referendum in 2011.
By introducing an English Parliament, we could counterbalance the system, as more politicians would be able to focus on the reforms necessary, due to Westminster and the English Parliament having different focuses.
The issue of devolution can be solved by just introducing more localism, which wouldn't involve introducing a whole new layer of govt that is unwanted.
Currently, England has a constitution that many would argue is in need of reform. For example, parliamentary sovereignty means there's a lack of separation of powers, and the FPTP system leads to the supremacy of one political party, so there are elements of elitism in our constitution and it lacks representation.
A DEVOLVED ENGLISH PARL IS A PROPOSED INSTITUTION THAT WOULD GIVE SEPERATE DECISION MAKING POWERS TO REPRESENTATIVES FOR VOTERS IN ENGLAND.