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The sticking point is whether granting more powers to Scotland should be linked to offsetting moves that would strengthen the power of English legislators over laws that affect only England. That idea has been proposed by the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister David Cameron. But the plan would inevitably hurt Labour, which is strong in Scotland.

As they work on the details of the constitutional change they promised, politicians are confronting the ramifications for the rest of the country, which has an unwritten, ramshackle constitution.

England is the dominant part of the United Kingdom, economically and in terms of population, yet the English have usually resisted efforts to build up powerful regional parliaments, preferring to be governed from Westminster.

Scotland currently has a privileged position because, in addition to having its own Parliament in Edinburgh, it elects 59 lawmakers to the Westminster Parliament who can vote on all laws, even those that apply just to England.

The Conservative Party wants to stop the Scottish lawmakers from having a say on matters that affect only the English.

For Cameron, that change would offer a political advantage because his party holds just one of Scotland’s 59 seats.

The Labour Party holds 41 of those seats and would see its power diminished if the lawmakers that Scots elect to the Westminster Parliament lose some voting rights there.

Miliband wants to move ahead with more self-rule for Scotland before confronting what to do about England. He has suggested a constitutional convention, which would consider all the issues and begin work next year. His party is likely to prefer a less dramatic change, perhaps allowing only English lawmakers on committees reviewing legislation that affects just England, but permitting all deputies, including Scots, to vote.