Gareth Young (Lewes, CEP): John Redwood and Simon Hughes both objected to the Government's new attempt to establish "regional accountability" in England last week. Mr Redwood had this to say:
Worse still is the government's threat of a further assault on England. Whilst they are delaying and struggling to work out the detail, Harman yesterday confirmed that they want to establish "regional accountability" around the artificial EU regions proposed for England.
And Mr Hughes this:
I am not against the proposed Regional Select Committees, but they are no answer to the English question. I am clear that we have not addressed the English question in Parliament, and it will not go away, nor should it. We need to work out how we can have proper accountability and scrutiny of England-only business, just as there is now better scrutiny in other places of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland business.
Both men are in favour of a 'parliament within a parliament' model of governing England: the English Grand Committee (which was in the news this weekend) in which English MPs will meet on certain days to discuss 'English-only' business. This model answers the West Lothian Question. But it does not answer the English Question.
The English Question (problem) is not answered by banning Scots from voting on English matters and giving proper scrutiny to English issues. The English Question is about democracy, governance and national identity; it is about asking the English how they wish to be governed and acting upon their recommendations. Clearly both Redwood and Hughes are right to pour scorn upon New Labour's undemocratic balkanisation of England, it is not an attempt at better governance, it's yet more gerrymandering, and it will be deeply unpopular. The people of England do not share Gordon Brown's vision of a Britain of nations and regions where Scotland and Wales are the nations and England is the regions. But the fact that Redwood and Hughes are correct in criticising the government does not alter the fact that their preferred solutions are also no answer to the English Question.
