UK Parliament / Open data

Devolution and the Union

Proceeding contribution from Gerald Howarth (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Thursday, 20 November 2014. It occurred during Backbench debate on Devolution and the Union.

I entirely agree with the right hon. Gentleman. It is important—I was just coming on to make the point—that devolving further substantial powers to Scotland will, in my view, provoke a backlash from England. England has been pretty quiescent. Unlike the feeling of many Scots, England is not concerned with what goes on in Scotland. It ploughs its own furrow. If there is not a sensible settlement, I believe that England will rise up. England otherwise gets on with its business, but if it feels that it is being dealt with unfairly, there will be a problem.

Something must be done to address the West Lothian question. I shall set out what I think may be the solution, but first I shall say what I do not want: a long drawn-out boring debate—[Interruption]—on some grand constitutional reconfiguration of the whole United Kingdom. I do not believe that that is what the nation wants or that it would serve us well as a nation.

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
588 c493 
Session
2014-15
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
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