English votes for English laws
As anyone who has been following British politics should realise, some time back Scotland had a referendum on independence and chose to stay in the UK. One of the promises made was that the devolved parliament of Scotland would be given even more powers by the Westminster parliament.
The setup of British politics is a mess. Powers that are controlled by a devolved government are not controlled by Westminster. The NHS, police and other things in Scotland are controlled entirely by the Scottish parliament. This means English people have no say in how they are run. There is nothing wrong with this per se but there is something called the West Lothian question. England has no devolved parliament so the UK parliament sets the laws for England. The thing is, the UK parliament can set a law that won't apply to Wales or Scotland and only apply to England yet Welsh and Scottish MPs can still vote on it. In essence this allows them to vote on a range of issues that only affect England whilst English MPs have no power to do the same. The more powers are devolved, the greater the imbalance becomes.
After the referendum, plans were drawn up to make Scotland independent in all but name with the Scottish parliament having all sorts of powers. This has obviously causes some resentment in England. On top of that the English get less funding than any other country, with Scotland getting 115% of the UK average and Wales getting 111% of the UK average. In contrast, England gets 97% of the Uk average.
When labour were in power they decided to introduce tuition fees for universities. If the Scottish votes were removed, the bill would have failed. As it was the bill passed yet did not apply to Scotland. English also pay for prescriptions that the Scots and Welsh don't pay for.
So what are people's views on the current system of devolution and funding in the UK? Should England implement an English votes only for English issues? More broadly, is the UK now dead thanks to Scottish and Welsh nationalism?
The setup of British politics is a mess. Powers that are controlled by a devolved government are not controlled by Westminster. The NHS, police and other things in Scotland are controlled entirely by the Scottish parliament. This means English people have no say in how they are run. There is nothing wrong with this per se but there is something called the West Lothian question. England has no devolved parliament so the UK parliament sets the laws for England. The thing is, the UK parliament can set a law that won't apply to Wales or Scotland and only apply to England yet Welsh and Scottish MPs can still vote on it. In essence this allows them to vote on a range of issues that only affect England whilst English MPs have no power to do the same. The more powers are devolved, the greater the imbalance becomes.
After the referendum, plans were drawn up to make Scotland independent in all but name with the Scottish parliament having all sorts of powers. This has obviously causes some resentment in England. On top of that the English get less funding than any other country, with Scotland getting 115% of the UK average and Wales getting 111% of the UK average. In contrast, England gets 97% of the Uk average.
When labour were in power they decided to introduce tuition fees for universities. If the Scottish votes were removed, the bill would have failed. As it was the bill passed yet did not apply to Scotland. English also pay for prescriptions that the Scots and Welsh don't pay for.
So what are people's views on the current system of devolution and funding in the UK? Should England implement an English votes only for English issues? More broadly, is the UK now dead thanks to Scottish and Welsh nationalism?
Comments8
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WQe should have devolution to england on all of the same issues!
We should also bill scotland for all the extra cash they have had in recent years.
We should also bill scotland for all the extra cash they have had in recent years.
Seems pretty simple to solve. Just cut Scottish influence from English policy. As for funding I'm not sure what funding you're talking about. From whom?
Powers in Scotland and to a lesser extent Wales are devolved but most of the revenue is raised at Westminster. This money is given out as a block to the devolved bodies to spend how they wish. The Scottish parliament has the power to raise slightly more in taxes above what the UK tax rates are which it would keep itself. The method used to determine how much each country gets spent on it by the government in Westminster is determined by the Barnett formula. The thing is this formula is broken, even its creator says so, but nobody changes it. It massively over-estimates how much Wales, Scotland and Ireland should get at the cost of England. The net result is Scots get about £1,200 more spent on them per capita than the English.
Oil and gas revenues make up a very large chunk of the total Scottish contribution (10% of business tax I believe) and if you discount that and just look at taxes raised from other business and personal income tax, Scots as individuals actually pay less than the English. So Scottish taxpayers pay less than the English, get more spent on them than the English, have a say in matters relating only to England, are immune to English having a say in Scottish matters, pay no tuition fees, no prescription charges, have a disproportionate number of MPs for their population and have special funding for protecting their heritage.
On top of that you have the fact that the biggest banking failure in UK history was a Scottish bank (RBS) which was bailed out primarily using taxpayers money, a decision made by a Scot, which was allowed to get into the position it did due to the management of a Scot and under the political regulation of a Scot.
The Scots then turn around and claim they have got the bad deal and whinge about how the English oppress them. Suffice to say it's beginning to create a lot of resentment in England.
Also some love dredging up history. They conveniently forget England and Scotland united when England bailed out Scotland after their attempts at colonialism failed and it was a Scottish king who took the English throne and united the kingdoms.
Oil and gas revenues make up a very large chunk of the total Scottish contribution (10% of business tax I believe) and if you discount that and just look at taxes raised from other business and personal income tax, Scots as individuals actually pay less than the English. So Scottish taxpayers pay less than the English, get more spent on them than the English, have a say in matters relating only to England, are immune to English having a say in Scottish matters, pay no tuition fees, no prescription charges, have a disproportionate number of MPs for their population and have special funding for protecting their heritage.
On top of that you have the fact that the biggest banking failure in UK history was a Scottish bank (RBS) which was bailed out primarily using taxpayers money, a decision made by a Scot, which was allowed to get into the position it did due to the management of a Scot and under the political regulation of a Scot.
The Scots then turn around and claim they have got the bad deal and whinge about how the English oppress them. Suffice to say it's beginning to create a lot of resentment in England.
Also some love dredging up history. They conveniently forget England and Scotland united when England bailed out Scotland after their attempts at colonialism failed and it was a Scottish king who took the English throne and united the kingdoms.
the net result is that English taxpayers such as myself pay for the Scottish youth to go to University for free whilst paying massive amounts in student loans themselves; only to have the Scottish youth be coerced into voting for the SNP after recieving a (literally) Scot-free education!
I vote Green, always have, always will but this hostile takeover of tax and universities payments is obscene and it's time the balance was redressed - in other words English Universities should be free too! How do we pay for it? Tax the rich and tax them again!
I vote Green, always have, always will but this hostile takeover of tax and universities payments is obscene and it's time the balance was redressed - in other words English Universities should be free too! How do we pay for it? Tax the rich and tax them again!
My opinion is pretty simple.
I don't live in the UK, not a citizen, but I do believe that self-determination of nationalities is key to a stable relationship with the rest of the world.
I don't live in the UK, not a citizen, but I do believe that self-determination of nationalities is key to a stable relationship with the rest of the world.
Lets hope so whats the point of the Scottish parlement and the welsh assembly if they send their MP's to westminster i say lets get rid of the outdated uk
Damm right! time to abolish the evil institution of slavery and genocide known as the UK