A denial of self-determination

From the Conservative manifesto:

"Labour have refused to address the so-called ‘West Lothian Question’: the unfair situation of Scottish MPs voting on matters which are devolved. A Conservative government will introduce new rules so that legislation referring specifically to England, or to England and Wales, cannot be enacted without the consent of MPs representing constituencies of those countries."

Of the 532 seats contested in England on May 6 (a final seat will be contested on 27 May), the Conservatives won an absolute majority with 61 seats more than all other parties combined, and secured an average swing of 5.6% from Labour.

The English have clearly voted for self-determination, and the proposed 'progressive coalition' is nothing but the proposed denial of the English right to self-determination and the democratic expression of the English voters.

Whoever you voted for, wherever your normal political loyalties lie, you should be outraged by this.

Hate to say I told you so...

but I did and I did and i did and i did

it's hard to get much publicity for a blog, and the lack of responses here really disheartened me. but this is nothing short of outrageous.

there MUST be an English parliament now at the very least. England voted for a Conservative majority. Regardless of your individual politics, or how you voted at the election, this situation is a disgrace. The democratic expression of the English has been denied by the votes of other countries.

If the 'progressive coalition' happens, it will require the votes of Scottish and Welsh nationalist MPs, bought by protecting their countries from cuts that will fall all the more harshly in England. The American's call it Pork-Barrell Politics - I simply call it subjugation.

England is better off alone...

As usual, Dan Hannan has an interesting post today.
As usual, Dan is not following his thoughts through to the logical conclusion, which is that every argument for the UK leaving the EU is valid for England leaving the UK. I really hope one day soon the Eurosceptics in all parties will realise that Unionism (in terms of the UK) is incompatible with Euroscepticism.The only intellectually honest position is to advocate English secession from the UK, which would also acheive secession from the EU at the same time.
Alex Salmond used to have a slogan 'Independence in Europe' which was a way of saying they'd like the whole EU to pay for them rather than just the English.
I have a much more simple slogan for the English independence movement.
It's simply 'Independence.'

Inversion of democracy

Daniel Hannan has been blogging about the prospect of a hung parliament.
This is something I've discussed in the past too.
It is beginning to irk me that the direct democracy movement - a movement I have a lot of sympathy with, and which Daniel Hannan and Douglas Carswell claim has a lot of traction in the Conservative party, is ignoring the place of England in the direct democracy framework. It is simply an inversion of the principles of localism and direct democracy to ignore the current democratic deficit in England, to talk about taking decisions at the lowest possible level and still have Westminster, in the guise of the British parliament, holding powers over England that have already been devolved to the other nations of the United Kingdom.

Can we get an English Parliament? Yes Witan!

Labour's campaign poster

Following on my spoof Conservative campaign poster, here is one for Labour.

Create your own at mybillboard.net.

Can the English get Independence? Yes Witan!

The EU is the UK, but more so...

There has been lots of comment and speculation about an EU rescue of Greece and in particular whether the UK will or will not (or morally should or should not) contribute.

Whilst there are arguments on all sides (we shouldn't, we're not part of the Euro; we should, we're part of the EU; we won't get a choice, Gordon Brown signed the Lisbon Treaty; how can we afford it, we're broke?), there is another issue I'd like to raise.

England has been bailing out the rest of the UK for centuries. It's now officially enshrined as the Barnett formula. Free prescriptions, tuition and care for the elderly, unheard of in England, are the standard in other parts of the UK.

Eurosceptics often point out that noone under 52 has ever voted on our membership of the EU. I would point out that noone has EVER voted on England's participation in the UK. How about that for a referendum?

And another...

I have also found the following site, which has a broad range of views on English issues.

Balance...

In the interests of balance, I would like to highlight the following campaign on Labourspace which at least shows that some of their activists are not happy at the democratic injustice inflicted on England by their government.
As I've said all along - I want people of all political views interested in this idea. It's the only way it can prosper.

The referendum we should get, but won't

You've probably seen that Gordon Brown wants a referendum on an alternative voting system for Westminster elections.
It's not for this blog to discuss the merits of the relative voting systems, of the motivation behind Gordon Brown's sudden conversion to the idea of voting reform, of the attractions to the Lib Dems in a hung parliament of such an idea etc.
What I do want to say, however, is that if there is a constitutional reform that the country is crying out for, if there is a democratic deficit that needs addressing, the way we elect MPs to Westminster is not the most pressing. How about the fact that this Prime Minister and his Scottish cohorts vote on issues south of the Firth that they can't vote on in their own constituency? How about the fact that the biggest nation in the United Kingdom is the only one without a national assembly?
The referendum we need is a referendum on English Independence. At the very least a referendum on an English Parliament. Any other reform that is supposed to improve democratic representation is simply a sticking plaster on a gunshot wound.

A question for Gordon...

The excellent Douglas Carswell is asking for suggestions for his question at the next PMQ.

I have suggested he ask about a Parliament for England. Perhaps likeminded supporters could do the same?