Panel of experts chosen to find the answer to West Lothian question

Published on Wednesday 18 January 2012 00:00

The members of an expert panel that will look into whether MPs in Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish seats should vote on laws affecting only England has been named by the coalition government.

Former Clerk of the House of Commons Sir William McKay will chair the six-strong commission examining the so-called “West Lothian question”.

He will be joined by the outgoing head of the Parliamentary Counsel legal team, Sir Stephen Laws, and one of his predecessors, Sir Geoffrey Bowman.

Devolved areas will be represented by Professor Charlie Jeffery, of the Edinburgh University Academy of Government, ex-UK Ambassador to the United Nations Sir Emyr Jones Parry, who is chairman of the All Wales Convention, and Professor Yvonne Galligan, of Queen’s University Belfast.

It will begin work next month and will call experts to give oral or written evidence, with a final report and recommendations due to be completed by the end of the next parliamentary session.

Constitutional reform minister Mark Harper said its remit would be confined to how the Commons deals with legislation that does not affect every part of the UK.

It will not consider relative funding or the balance between English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs in the House of Commons.

Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan criticised the lack of any serving or retired MPs on the commission and complained that Labour was not consulted.

“We are opposed to creating a simple hierarchy of Members of Parliament based simply on what parts of the UK they represent,” he said.

Comments

There are 3 comments to this article

Order by:

• Newest first
• |
• Oldest first

Page 1 of 1

• 1
• Show all

3

Hector the Lessor

Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 02:39 AM

#1 . I reckon he did, and what is more he most likely spent the time since refining the question. Obvious candidate to head the panel, if he does not know the answer the question should maybe not have been raised.

• Report Unsuitable

2

Broon Bairn

Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 01:16 PM

Panels, Boards, Committees, Groups, yes, that's definitely the Westminster way! Isn't it great to watch demiocracy in action, Westminster-style?

• Report Unsuitable

1

Broon Bairn

Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 10:05 AM

Didn't Tam Dalyell raise this issue nearly 40 years ago?

• Report Unsuitable

Order by:

• Newest first
• |
• Oldest first

Page 1 of 1

• 1
• Show all

Logged in as:

Comment here. Start typing your comment here:

Post comment

Please adhere to our Community guidelines

Your view

Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.