English Parliament: A Disaster!

On Tuesday Jack Straw gave evidence to the Justice Committee's Devolution a Decade on enquiry. What he said was remarkable:

I am wholly opposed to an English parliament. If you went down that route, there would be little advantage seen by those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for maintaining the Union, because the argument would be, what exactly is in it for us?

So he's not only opposed for practical or political reasons, he's wholly - completely - opposed, ideologically opposed. And why? Because there's nothing in it for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

So the answer to the question "What is in it for England?" must be "Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland". And the answer to "What is in it for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?" is "continued influence in English domestic affairs".

England is the political eunuch at the British-Celtic nationalist orgy, stripped of its virility so that an ailing Britain can maintain its erection and sate the whimsical ardours of its Celtic harem.

On removing the right of Scottish MPs to vote on English affairs Straw says, "The moment you start to look at this you see it starts to unravel". Many more sage heads than his thought the same about removing the right of English MPs to vote on Scottish affairs, but Labour did it anyway, and went on to claim that devolution to Scotland had strengthened the Union. They were lying to you then, and they still are now (80% of peers agree).

Jack Straw insists that now is not the time for a referendum on Scottish Independence. I'm sure Jack Straw would rather leave it until the Tories are in power so he can shift the blame, but the fact that a referendum is embarrassing for Gordon Brown and the Labour Party is no reason to prevent the Scottish people deciding when the time is right.

In other news Peter Facey and Paul Kingsnorth are having a tête-à-tête over at Our Kingdom, and a National Conversation for England blog has been launched.