A second chamber solution to West Lothian?

Spring this year has seen a blossoming of Unionist blogs, with Conservative and Unionist parliamentary candidates, Mike Nesbitt and Lady Trimble joining the man currently in the selection twilight-zone, the Conservative candidate for North Down, Ian Parsley. I hope they realise a blog is for life (which online equals 6 months if you're lucky) and not just for election time;)

Two other blogs have now entered the fray; The Dissenter (which actually has been on the go sporadically for a few months now) and just in the last couple of days, Ultonia.

The latter is written by DUP member, Lee Reynolds (who now contributes also to The Newsletter) and English readers especially will be interested in reading his latest post on the West Lothian Question:

However, could reform of the second chamber be a means of empowering England without undermining equal citizenship? Could it also inject the need to balance regional interests with national interests more directly than at present (as the American system does with the House of Representatives and Senate? Namely should this seats in the new chamber be distributed equally between the 9 regions of England and the other three constituent parts of the United Kingdom?

This would mean approximately 25 representatives each. Would this enable stronger regional voices to emerge or would the strength of the party system be able to maintain its dominance?

Well? Give your answer at Ultonia!


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