CEP: Power to the people
The housing benefit bill is expected to be over £21bn by 2014, with 4.7 million households receiving some support. |  |
The screw is tightening in the ongoing row over phone hacking at News of the World, with Alan Johnson suggesting an inspection of the original police investigation may be necessary. |  |
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For a few moments it looked as if PMQs might slip into substance, but then the threat subsided.
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Thursday, 21, Jan 2010 02:01
The Campaign for an English Parliament notes with regret that a referendum on an English parliament - the most popular idea* submitted to Power2010(1) - is not an available option on the public vote stage of Power2010's campaign to reform our democracy.
The Conservative proposal "English Votes on English Laws" has made it onto the shortlist and so we call upon our members and supporters to consider voting for this constitutional abomination.
Contrary to Power2010's statement, English Votes on English Laws does not "give the English nation a political voice at the national level". It is merely a technical solution to the West Lothian Question that attempts to circumnavigate the wider English Question.
The Campaign believes that the Conservative Party will avoid any attempt to discuss the English Question before the general election, and that the unspoken affinity of interest that exists between the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat Parties will conspire to keep the governance of England off the political radar during the General Election campaign.
By voting for English Votes on English Laws, supporters of an English parliament can help to ensure that the question of England is debated prior to the General Election, and after the election too. Should the Conservatives win with a workable majority, we will do all that we can to prevent them from kicking the Parliamentary debate on their unworkable solution to the West Lothian Question into the long grass.
It is our firm belief that the people of England should settle for nothing less than their own national parliament and government. But until such time that we are permitted a referendum on our national future, pragmatism dictates that we use all means possible to force the English Question onto the political agenda against the wishes of the political class.
* A referendum on an English Parliament was the most popular idea submitted by the public to Power2010, polling 46.5% higher than the next most popular idea for reform.
Gareth Young
CAMPAIGN FOR AN ENGLISH PARLIAMENT
gpy1973@yahoo.co.uk
CEP Contact telephone: 0797 3296 118
(1) The Power Inquiry, chaired by Helena Kennedy, reported in 2006, making 30 recommendations for increasing democratic participation in Britain. None was implemented by the British government. Power 2010 has revisited this process and will produce a short list of five recommendations before the General Election.
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