A re-balancing of power

Warning! I am about to get political here!

In the UK, the Government is seeking to cut the costs of politics, and 1 way to do so is to cut the number of MP's that sit in the House of Commons. The government is also using it to try to rebalance some historical inbalances in the system. For a long time, Wales and Scotland where over represented in Parliament with more MP's per head of population than England. England actually enjoys better representation than Northern Ireland, but Northern Ireland is a different political animal with the sectarian divisions and a history of a high degree of autonomy making the case for more MP's tough.

With the advent of devolution, with Scotlands devolved parliament getting authority over a wide range of domestic issues ranging from education to health. But not defence. That is still held by the UK government. Northern Ireland has its assembly which has a wide range of powers (when it is working) and Wales assembly has just started the move to take full control over many areas of Welsh policy from central government.

But what about England?

Well, Labour did make noise about regional assemblies, but that died a death. As it stands, all England-only issues are debated by the full Parliament. With Welsh, Northern Irish, and Scottish MP's able to vote on matters that does not directly impact on their constituencies. The area which elected them to represent them in the British Parliament. Many of these policy areas are devolved, meaning that whilst the Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish can, through the ballot box, can influence decisions in England, this is not reciprocated.

Now, the government is looking to cut the number of MP's, and Plaid Cymru, the SNP, and Labour are bleating about the unfairness of it all. That the reduction of MP's will lessen their regions voice in the UK parliament. Lets not forget folks, the total number of MP's being cut is across the whole UK, with England losing MP's too!

But let us take a look at the situation right now.

In the UK parliament there is 1 MP for:

 96,510 people

 87,627 people

 74,750 people

Northern Ireland is higher than England, but due to government being slightly different in Northern Ireland, and the complexities of sectarianism means that it is difficult for opposing areas to "share" an MP.

Using these figures, it means that 1 Welsh vote about 1.4 English votes. Which strikes me as kind of unfair. Now, I understand, there have been arguments, that a Welsh MP sitting in the British Parliament has the right to vote on things that are debated by the British Parliament. This does, of course, cover all things in England. And, as an MP, if they are limited to only British things, then there is nothing for them to do.

Also, with the reduction of MP's, there is a reduction in the "voice" of the Welsh, and Scots in the British Parliament.

My argument here is simple. Reducing the voice of the MP's is neither here nor there. MP's are paid to sit in the Houses of Parliament on our behalf, the citizens of the United Kingdom. The MP is not important here. What is important is the voter. The schlub in the street.

And, as it stands, the Welsh have a direct impact on Welsh only matters, and the Scots have a direct impact on Scots only matters, and same in Northern Ireland. This is through the right to vote in their own devolved parliaments. Through their ability to vote in national elections, the Welsh and Scots, and Northern Irish also can have an impact on UK-wide matters, such as tax, immigration and defence. AND finally, because there is no power devolved in England, leaving purely English matters in the hands of the British parliament, Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish voters still have an impact on English only issues. 

Case in point, in 2004, Labour introduced a new round of top-up fees for universities in England. A deeply unpopular policy, and suffered a revolt on their own back benches. The Conservatives voted against, as did many other parties. The policy passed thanks to the Labour party's contingent of Scottish MP's voting for it. The Conservatives Scots MP abstained. On the simple ground that it would not affect his constituents.

As it stands, right now, a Welsh vote is worth 1.4 English votes (per head of population. I did not find electoral roll numbers), and not only that, but a Welsh vote has more impact on the fabric of the country. 

This reduction will see this over representation whittled away (It will, however, still exist. It will see 1 MP per 100,000 in England, and 1 per 99,000 in Wales and Scotland). There is no longer any need in Scots and Welsh MP's enjoying this over representation, as Welsh and Scots only related issues are no longer debated in the House of Commons, but in their own devolved parliaments. Therefore, there should be parity between the home nations, as they will now, only debate British only matters. As well as English only. A reduction in the number of Welsh and Scots MP's means that their ability to meddle is lessened.

And this will be the next round that people want fixing. The ability for Scots and Welsh MP's to be stopped form getting involved in English only matters. I know that England is by far the largest constituent nation of the UK, and anything done in England will have some impact in the other nations. 

BUT democracy is 1 person, 1 vote. As it stands, a person in England has a vote of less value in comparison to a person in Wales, or Scotland.Given that Scots and Welsh issues are back in the hands of their respective parliaments, this means that on British matters, the value of a vote should be the same.

With regards English only matters, fine leave it in the hands of the British parliament. I am not too keen on yet another parliament. But I DO understand, and would support one if it was offered. At the very least, allow Scots and Welsh MP's the ability to debate, vote on issues at committee level, but any final vote on English issues at least should be limited to English MP's.

I suppose the best answer would be to totally slash the number of MP's, tidy up devolution properly, so each home nation is responsible for the same areas of policy that only affect their own nation, and each home nation has its own parliament. Including England.