Home Rule For England

[AB Editor]

 

This poll is closed.

Should England be afforded "Home Rule"?

• Yes - 121 votes
• 76%
• No - 38 votes
• 24%

See final stats

Stats until: 05:01 Thu 19th Dec 2024 (Refreshed every 5 minutes)

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[youngmafbog]

It is the only fair way, devolution for all the UK, not differing rules for differing parts.

And split the money fairly per head too.

And that goes for the Supermarkets too, I do not want to subsidize 40% of a Nation that does not want to be part of the team.

[anotheoldgit]

Interesting only two apart from myself willing to stand up and be counted yet a third have voted No.

[jim360]

"...not differing rules for differing parts."

Devolution is the most effective way to secure "differing rules for differing parts", though... in the long term I'd like to see less devolution rather than more.

[Old_Geezer]

What is meant by that. More power to a new English tier of government, or a genuine split from the UK ? I'd rather not have these extra tiers of government with their expense, but if one country has them then they all should in order to ensure fair treatment.

[anneasquith]

as a non English person, i do not feel qualified to give an opinion. ,

[woofgang]

define "home rule" please?

[Gromit]

I voted 'Yes' but it would be another carriage on the gravey train.

We need to finally cull the Lords once and for all, slim down the Commons to half its size, and have an England assemby with more regional oowers.

[jno]

I don't think I can vote without knowing exactly what home rule means. If it means independence, then Scots might wonder what happened to the Union they'd just voted to stay with. If it's some form of devolution in a more or less federated state, then yes, why not.

[ludwig]

// I don't think I can vote without knowing exactly what home rule means. //

Based on the question further down, and it's attached article, I take it to mean that Scottish MPs won't be able to vote on legislation that affects purely English constituents, in the same way that currently works the other way around.

[jno]

That may be so, ludwig, but I've often wondered about the meaning of "solely affects English constitutents". If, for instance, Scotland were to have their own education system and vote for themselves on it, then they wouldn't be able to vote on England's education. Fair enough.

But if in fact constituent areas of the UK did have the right to set up their own systems, then that would seem to be an open door to independence anyway - so the Scots, again, might reasonably say "Hang aboot, what happened to the Union we voted for?"

[ludwig]

// so the Scots, again, might reasonably say "Hang aboot, what happened to the Union we voted for?" //

Yes. They might be saying that anyway though seeing as Scotland is already well down the road to devolution. 'England home rule' is something the anti-unionists should be glad to see as it further loosens the bonds.
My personal view is that you have to level the playing field, and if that turns out to be a thin end of the wedge towards the breakup of the union, so be it.

[jno]

that's all fine by me. It would make fools of (or show the hypocrisy of) everyone who urged the continuation of the Union, though, from Cameron down.

[youngmafbog]

For once I am 100% behind you Gromit.

[ludwig]

// It would make fools of (or show the hypocrisy of) everyone who urged the continuation of the Union, though, from Cameron down. //

Not really. All they're saying is that they want the union to continue, with a limited set of devolved powers for each 'country' - the same set of limited devolved powers, so that there isn't a priveleged set of 5 million people who not only have a say on everyone elses issues, but also have a separate set of their own local issues that nobody else but they have a say on.

[Daffy6543]

Yes, I don't think the current system is fair to English people. There are many Scottish politicians who vote on matters that do not in any way affect the people of Scotland.

[jourdain2]

Don't quite understand the question. Is it asking for complete independence from the other component parts of the U.K., if so the answer is 'No'. If we are referencing the West Lothian question, then the answer is 'Yes'. So I don't feel able to cast my vote.

[jno]

well, they were saying they wanted the Union to go on - only it turns out they want to change it substantially ('fundamentally' might be a better word if they envisage a fully federal nation). This wasn't mentioned before the vote, presumably because the parties' armies of strategists hadn't actually thought that far ahead (but perhaps because they had and wanted to keep quiet about it). If any Scots feel conned by all this, they have a point.

[ToraToraTora]

last thing we need is another layer of snouts in the trough, we should abolish all except central government and halve that. All councils, devolved parliaments etc don't need any of it. Please please I hope this stupid idea dies quickly.

[jno]

dissolving councils sounds like an excellent way of handing a greater share of the money to London (since that's where MPs are based). I'd be up for that.