Momentum for an English Parliament builds at last

Posted by Guessedworker on Tuesday, 24 October 2006 23:16.

This morning the Telegraph leader demanded a debate about devolution for the English. This follows on the launch of the pressure group, the English Constitutional Convention, at a meeting in the House of Commons today.

At that meeting the architect of Scottish devolution, Canon Dr. Kenyon Wright, made a clear moral argument for an English Parliament.

English people have a “sovereign right” to a Parliament of their own if they want one, the architect of Scottish devolution has said.

Canon Kenyon Wright said it was “undemocratic” that Scottish MPs could vote on England-only issues but not vice versa.

He said he wanted to see “a strong English Parliament” and a strengthened Welsh legislature.

Opponents say they fear the break-up of the United Kingdom.

But Canon Wright said creating an English Parliament would strengthen the union and “may well save it”.

He said he had changed his mind on the issue after English regional assemblies - originally planned to correct the power vacuum created by Welsh and Scottish devolution - had been overwhelmingly rejected by voters in the North East.

“I have become convinced that England has a growing sense of national identity, every bit as strong as ours, and there should be an English parliament if people want it.

“It is as much our right as it is yours,” he told a meeting of the English Constitutional Convention (ECC) in Westminster.

The is all self-evidently of interest to majoritarians. That the English have no control over their fate because the politics of the age have become Marxised is something we are all too familiar with. But any chance of taking back control is greatly weakened by the longstanding, negative meme of Britishness. In our time, of course, it has become a capacious and wide-open official nationality for anyone from anywhere. It cannot be so easily be transferred to the narrow confines of Englishness, though doubtless the effort to mint a brand new English coinage from black and brown base metals will be made.

The old way of Britishness for the English, Scottishness for the Scots and Welshness for the Welsh has been the pattern since the Act of Union of 1707. It has taken its time to show its mortality - 109,384 days according to the ECC website. Finally, we seem to be moving forward towards a just and equitable settlement, hopefully within the Union. The faint possibility of a national debate about who is English glimmers, and with it the chance to argue for the primacy of ethnic Englishness. After all, an English Parliament will not belong to the liberal-left. Their majority depends on the MP’s Scotland and Wales send to Westminster. That will cease, and the true nature of English politics will slowly declare itself.

Wait for David Cameron to take up the idea. That will be the sign that Labour, clinging to its fag-end Parliament, is finished south of the border.

Tags: British Politics

Comments:

Posted by Rob Spear on Wed, 25 Oct 2006 04:01 | #

I’m not sure that Cameron will be any different than Blair, but I do think that, in the long run, smaller more localized states are the best bet for the preservation of western cultural value. So this is a good thing.

Posted by Steve Edwards on Wed, 25 Oct 2006 05:16 | #

This will be opposed by The Guardian, the BBC and the Establishment generally, suggesting that it can only be a healthy development. I think the best thing would be for the English to simply grant independence to the Scots, Welsh, Northern Irish etc, and to emphasise the right of self-determination of all peoples everywhere. I can’t see any problem with destroying the Union.

Posted by Johan Van Vlaams on Wed, 25 Oct 2006 08:13 | #

Reminds me of Belgium. The little Flemish socialist party has disproportionately too much influence because of their alliance with their much stronger Walloon counterpart.

And of course the English must pay…comparatively much less than the Flemish, but nevertheless… these days, aren’t financial transfers from now on a European problem???

Posted by Bumbler on Wed, 25 Oct 2006 20:17 | #

Is England more non-white than the rest of the UK? If yes, than it is good for the rest of the UK to have unfair power vis a vis England. It’s probably to England’s benefit.

Posted by Johan Van Vlaams on Wed, 25 Oct 2006 20:43 | #

To Bumbler.

As a Fleming from outside, my interpretation is the following about England.

I rather think there currently is a “monster coalition” between socialist “white” Scotland (getting money from England) and the Dhimmi politicians of multicultural England. I expect no happy end.

BTW if ever a white revolt occurs in South Africa this is one of their motives. They already see England as doomed.

Posted by Desmond Jones on Wed, 25 Oct 2006 21:24 | #

It will probably make little difference.

Campaign for an English Parliament. [Scroll down and check the picture].

Posted by Guessedworker on Wed, 25 Oct 2006 22:07 | #

Desmond,

There is one very important difference and that is the coincidence of two political sea-changes: the long, official push away from Multiculturalism towards Integrationism, which will be met with utter disdain by those among the natives who know when they have been abused enough, and the general, unfocussed but rising “constitutional” awareness of those natives. There is a clear opportunity here for nationalist opinion. It merely needs proper analysis and strong, effective leadership. I don’t know if it will get it. But these are becoming interesting times.

Posted by Guessedworker on Wed, 25 Oct 2006 22:13 | #

The Telegraph has been quick out of the blocks with two articles open to comments, here and here. Note in both cases the vigour of the threads and the weight of approval for change.

Posted by karlmagnus on Wed, 25 Oct 2006 23:09 | #

I think an English parliament is a very good one to push because if it happened it would shift the whole argument rightwards, by putting the middle point of politics in a different place. In an English Parliament, even though Blair would have won in 1997 and 2001, I think Iain Duncan Smith would have been in a substantial opinion poll leade for most of his 2001-03 tenure, and it would thus have been very difficult for the Conrad Black/leftie cabal to remove him. With IDS fighting the 2005 election, and therefore a better result than Howard achieved (because he wouldn’t have spent his energy on deselecting his own side and genreral treachery) we’d have a Tory government today, in which cameron might if he was lucky be Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment.

Doesn’t solve the problem, but it certainly alleviates it.

Posted by Desmond Jones on Wed, 25 Oct 2006 23:28 | #

The comments abound with the ubiquitous English/Scot up your kilt Jock animosity, however, a search for Muslim, Sikh, Hindu or Black return no result. Only an immigrant appears to be concerned with the issue of racial awareness.

Coming from an immigrant background, after so many years of moulding and assmilating my identity to being British. I have to say I will be hugely disappointed if Scotland was to be become independent. Where would children of ethnic minority families gain their cultural/national identities and values from. For me personally being Scottish, Welsh or English is based more on race. While calling one self British, was to say I am part of the country as a whole. For me I always identified myself as British-Asian, not English-Asian. It would be interesting to hear from people from ethnic minorities backround who live in Scotland and Wales, and see how they see their identies visa-vis being Scottish or Welsh, will be affected by the breakup of the Union.
Posted by Raj Singh on October 25, 2006 3:33 PM

Retaining Britishness allows for racial identity in the UK. Removing the overarching British moniker will make vismins English, Welsh or Scots like it has in Canada or the US. England must insist on jus sanguinis, as Ireland recently did or to be English will be simply to be born in England, jus solis.

Posted by Desmond Jones on Wed, 25 Oct 2006 23:42 | #

What you will get is Shirley Bassey is Welsh,