I apologise for missing the first few remarks made by my hon. Friend the Member for Esher and Walton (Mr Raab). I should like to say that it was a pleasure to listen to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hall Green (Mr Godsiff), but it kind of wasn’t, really. It was disappointing to hear the suggestion from the Opposition that the devolution of powers is a way of splitting up the Union by the back door. I do not believe that it ought to be, or that it was ever meant to be. Scotland voted to remain part of the Union, and I am very glad that it did so.
Powers have gone to Wales and Scotland, and quite rightly so. They should have a say over how they run certain important matters that are particular to them. This cannot be a one-way street, however. We cannot give powers back and not expect that to have an impact on the workings of this place. Inevitably, there will be subjects relating to Scotland and Wales that we will be expected not to vote on. Stamp duty could well be one of them. This is a subject that I am particularly passionate about, because Scottish Members could potentially vote on stamp duty in England. According to the latest figures, my constituency pays more stamp duty than Scotland and Wales put together, and I find it amazing that I would have no say over stamp duty in Scotland, yet Scotland could well have a vote on stamp duty in my constituency. That is rather bizarre.
The logical conclusion of our giving powers to Scotland is that we should recognise the democratic deficit that it has created in our own Parliament. That needs to be addressed. I accept that we have a united Parliament, but that does not mean that we cannot come up with a system that recognises the new arrangements. We do not need to create a whole new English Parliament, as the hon. Member for Birmingham, Hall Green suggested, but we need to observe custom and practice and say that there are certain things that hon. Members from Scotland or Wales should not participate in. That would be a fair situation.