Devolution and the Union

Let me just finish this point. Any solution that involves removing the ability of MPs outside England to vote on English matters will inevitably lead to a situation in some future Parliament in which a Government would not be able to get its English business through the House. We have all seen what happens when there is gridlock in the US, and I hope that we would not want such a situation to arise here. But that is exactly what will happen at some point if the only change that was made was to stop Members from outside England voting on English-only matters, but not changing any other part of the constitution. Setting up a federal system for the UK is the way to resolve that issue.