West Lothian Commission Panel confirmed
17th January 2012
Harriett Baldwin’s campaign to address a complex constitutional issue today resulted in the announcement of a Government commission.
And the West Worcestershire MP today welcomed the important step towards addressing the anomalies of voting rights of MPs in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the House of Commons, following devolution.
The ‘Commission on the Consequences of Devolution for the House of Commons’ will start in February next and report back to Parliament before the end of the next parliamentary session.
The six –strong panel of constitutional and parliamentary experts will look at the issue in the context of the creation of devolved assemblies for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
It is believed that the end date for the commission has been left vaguer than previously indicated, to allow for the uncertainty about the date of a referendum on Scottish independence.
The commission panel will have six non-political appointees chaired by Sir William McKay, a former Clerk of this House. The other five commission members, whose backgrounds are in law, academia and constitutional development in the UK and the EU, are Sir Stephen Laws, Sir Geoffrey Bowman, Professor Charlie Jeffery, Professor Yvonne Galligan and Sir Emyr Jones Parry.
Harriett commented: “I am very pleased that the commission and its terms of reference have finally been confirmed. I welcome the focus on the wider consequences of devolution that are made clear in the Commission’s new title and in the terms of reference.
“I also welcome the fact that the commission chair is a former Clerk of the House, as my own view has always been that the issue of England-only legislation at Westminster is one that should be solved through changes to the rules of the House of Commons, not a separate and expensive English Parliament.”
“The panel will look at the issues which were raised as part of my private member’s bill debates in Parliament. Since it is confined to the House of Commons, it won’t be held up by the proposals to reform the House of Lords.
“I do believe that my campaign has highlighted an important constitutional issue and by taking steps to solve it now before it causes a crisis is a very sensible thing to do.”
