West Lothian Question commission set up (From Malvern Gazette)

West Lothian Question commission set up

9:00am Saturday 28th January 2012 in Malvern

A COUNTY MP’s campaign to address a complex constitutional issue has received a boost.

A Government commission has been set up to look at the anomalies of voting rights of MPs in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the House of Commons following devolution.

The six-strong panel of constitutional and parliamentary experts will start proceedings next month (FEB) and will report back before the end of the next Parliamentary session.

It is believed that the end date for the commission has been left vaguer than previously indicated to allow for the uncertainty about the date of a referendum on Scottish independence.

Harriett Baldwin, Conservative MP for West Worcestershire, has long campaigned to address the so-called West Lothian Question – she presented a Private Members Bill in Parliament – and she said she is pleased it has finally got to this stage.

“I do believe that my campaign has highlighted an important constitutional issue and by taking steps to solve it now before it causes a crisis is a very sensible thing to do,”

she said. English MPs are currently not allowed to vote on many matters which are now devolved to other UK assemblies and there has been a long-running debate on whether it should also apply the other way round.

An attempt to solve the issue was part of the agreement between Conservatives and Liberal Democrats when they formed the coalition but the Government has been criticised for taking too long to address the matter.