33
devolved assembly.
118
An additionally complicated question also enters the fray at this
point. If social and home affairs are handled by the members of the Scottish Parliament
then a Member of the House of Commons from a constituency located in Scotland will
not have any say on these matters. The Members of the Scottish Parliament representing
the same constituents as the Westminster MP will handle these issues. At the same time,
that same Member of [the Westminster] Parliament will have the ability to vote on social
and home affairs legislation affecting English constituencies.
119
It does seem a bit
strange that an MP elected to represent one area actually makes legislative decisions for
other constituencies that are not even in the same nation. In a 2001 BBC Radio 4
program, the then leader of the Scottish National Party, John Swinney MSP, argued,
without irony, that his party has been doing its utmost to deal with the West Lothian
Question by only attending the 16 percent of the votes in the House of Commons that
affect Scottish constituents. He stated that “SNP MPs go to Westminster and they vote
on issues that affect people within Scotland. They do not vote on issues that affect only
members of the communities that live within England and Wales. We, ourselves, are
addressing the supposed West Lothian Question and we are not voting on issues that do
not concern the constituents we represent.”
120
While the SNP may take it upon
themselves to address the West Lothian Question, the issue has not been dealt with by the
current Labour Government in a formal manner and, therefore, provides fodder for those
people looking to gain support for the idea of restructuring the way England is currently
governed. In fact, in the lead up to the 2005 General Election the Conservative Party
118
Riddell, 104.
119
Tam Dalyell, “Devolution: The End of Britain,” in The Rape of the Constitution?, ed. Keith Sutherland
(Thorverton: Imprint Academic, 2000), 259.
120
John Swinney, interview by James Cox, The World This Weekend, BBC Radio 4, 13 May 2001.
Convention