UK government may introduce English veto without legislation

Prime Minister David Cameron

The UK government could restrict the voting rights of Scottish MPs through a change to Parliament’s standing orders, according to a senior government source.

Anonymous sources speaking to The Times said that Prime Minister David Cameron could push forward with plans to change the function of the House of Commons as early as next week.

The Conservative Party manifesto included a commitment to introducing “English votes for English laws” at Westminster - a change in procedures that would prevent Scottish MPs from voting on issues exclusively affecting England.

It said there was a “manifest unfairness whereby Scotland is able to decide its own laws in devolved areas, only for Scottish MPs to have the potentially decisive say on similar matters that affect only England and Wales”.

SNP MP Pete Wishart, on announcing yesterday that he would chair Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee, said there was “a huge range of work to be done by the committee with a Scotland Bill progressing through Parliament, English votes for English laws and a whole range of reserved legislation which directly impacts on the people of Scotland”.

Today, he told Scottish Legal News that the new rules cannot be “rushed through without proper consideration of all the consequences”.

The Times reports that a simple vote in the House of Commons could be enough to change Parliament’s standing orders and allow the Speaker to decide which bills should have an “English veto”.

Speaking to Scottish Legal News, Mr Wishart said: “Restricting the voting rights of some MPs is the single biggest change in MPs’ rights of representation we have seen in decades.

“Something with such wide and deep ramifications must be properly considered, scrutinised and debated. We would end up in the situation where MPs are barred from specific votes impacting in Scotland, hindering our rights to represent our constituents properly, which we strongly oppose.

“SNP MPs already don’t vote on English only legislation which has no impact on Scotland, whether direct or indirect. We don’t need a change of the rules to determine what we can and can’t vote for. We certainly cannot have this rushed through without proper consideration of all the consequences.”