In its report, Devolution: A Decade On, The Justice Committee had decided that devolution for England is unfinished business, and that England is locked in a "pre-devolution timewarp".
"But England, which has 84 per cent of the population, is the unfinished business of devolution-stuck in a pre-devolution time warp, while the rest of the UK has moved on. The funding formula is also a relic from earlier times, taking no account of the current need of the various nations and regions of the United Kingdom." The committee found there were a number of solutions presented as possible alternatives to the current system but none appeared to provide a definitive solution to the problem.
Some called for the creation of additional devolved parliaments such as an English one or several based on the English regions while others have sought to redress the problem of the West Lothian question with English-only votes in parliament or a reduction in the number of Scottish and Welsh MPs.
"Each suggested answer has its own problems and limitations, and while some attempt to address issues around centralisation, others attempt to address the West Lothian question," said Sir Alan.
"Those which deal to any major extent with the West Lothian question, like an English parliament and English votes for English laws, raise significant problems in a state where one of its constituent territories has 84 per cent of the population".
It's a bit too late to worry about that. Having started the process of devolution by respecting the existence of Wales and Scotland as nations, and giving their peoples a vote, the UK Government has no other option but to similarly respect England and extend the same right to the people of England.
It awes me that these politicians are still chuntering away, trying to decide our future, whilst in no way recognising our right to be treated in exactly the same way as the UK Government treated the Scots, Welsh and later the Northern Irish.
The arrogance of it!
Meanwhile, the findings of the committee don't appear to be widely reported at all in England.
The media is burying the devolution issue again, it seems...
Too right - the UK Government should never have let this situation develop in the first place. Devolution needed to be carefully planned to be fair for all. It is evident that the rushed and highly biased legislation of the late 1990s is to blame for all this.
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