Contrary to their Party's policy as many as one in five of Prospective Conservative Parliamentary Candidates have declared support for England to have its own parliament. This information has come from the Conservative Party itself, from its official blog 'Conservative Home.com., information which was also publicised in the Daily Telegraph.The policy of the Conservative Party under Mr Cameron has been to oppose an English Parliament even though he supports the existence of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly; and in the long-awaited report of his 'Democracy Task Force' headed by Kenneth Clarke MP, which came out on Wednesday July 2nd, the Party's opposition to England having its own parliament was re-affirmed.
Conservative Home is not the Conservative Party’s official blog and I also can’t find the relevant articles mentioned in either it or the Daily Telegraph (or on the CEP’s own blog or at the Witanagemot Club for that matter). Not to say they’re not there, it's just especially if you're going to put such releases online, some kind of linking in would be useful to those of us wanting to blog further on the topic.
Anyway, enough of the pedantic whinging:
'A declaration of support for England to have its own parliament,' said Mr Michael Knowles of the National Council of the Campaign for an English Parliament, 'by 20% of the Conservative Party parliamentary candidates is highly significant.
Is it? 20% is a minority and a small one at that- less than the percentage of Conservative candidates who wish to pull out of the European Union I’ll wager, also not Tory policy and that is also highly unlikely to happen. And it’s not clear if that figure only relates to new candidates or also includes sitting MPs; but whatever, they won’t be able to to affect change even within the Tory party never mind the House of Commons with those kind of figures.
In the light of what is their Leader's unambiguous own position on this matter and the opposition to an English Parliament of their Democracy Task Force, this declaration indicates that the new blood entering the Conservative Parliamentary Party is opening up to fresh thinking and to an awareness that the 1998 Devolution Settlement, which has not only not served England at all, but has trapped it in outdated and uninspiring political and constitutional systems of government, has to be reconsidered.'
Well, let’s hope that last part is accurate at least; again, I’m prepared to wager that more than 20% of all Torys planning to stand at the next General Election in England, N.Ireland, Scotland and Wales are unhappy with the outworkings of the Devolution Experiment. That being the case, would it not make more sense for those wanting constitutional justice for England to start working with those principled elements within Conservatism (and those of us outside) and join the fight to dismantle the assymetrical devolved system that the UK is presently lumbered with?
4 comments:
20%, up from zero 10 years ago.
As always, it is the trend that is significant.
never mind the 20%, what about the polls showing 68% of people wanting an English Parliament?
Wildgoose/tally
The fact remains it's still a small minority of only one party. And even if 70% odd of the English electorate want an English parliament...it's not top priority for many of them, or I guess the parties would have been a lot more pro-active on the question.
There is always the referendum route though and simulataneous referendums in all four parts of the UK on independence/continuing Union/ devolution may be well your best chance
The CEP need to sort out their whole approach to the net.
I've tried on several occasions to get them to put press releases on the CEP website, I've tried to help them re-design their site.
Sadly the elders at the top of the organisation just don't get it.
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