Ever since the previous government devolved powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, there has been a quiet, steady and justifiable sense of unease from the English that their interests are not being fairly governed. However, since the Scottish independence referendum and the promise of more devolved powers to the three other countries making up the United Kingdom, this sense of unease has been growing - and growing quickly.
This week, the first stages of resolving this, so called, West Lothian Question began. The issue at stake is this: as Wyre Forest's MP, I vote on a huge range of issues that affect everyone living in Wyre Forest and across the country. After 5 years, at a general election, I am accountable for all those decisions I made on behalf of you. But with devolution, MPs from Scottish constituencies can vote on issues such as health and education that have been devolved to the Scottish parliament. This means that they are voting on things that neither affect their constituents, nor are they accountable for at a general election. That is both wrong and unfair. And with further devolution, this problem is getting worse.
So this week the plans were announced to resolve this. A report was published with nearly all parties' submissions, except for Labour who have the most to lose with the most number of Scottish MPs. Their problem is significant because their majority needed to form a government may be lost by excluding Scottish MPs from voting on something England centric like the budget. Any party made up with significant numbers of MPs from devolved regions would not be able to govern effectively.
The proposals from my party are simple. Our favoured option is to exclude devolved MPs from voting on any legislation in Westminster that is English. We think this is simplest and cheapest. But we are open to other ideas, including restricting certain parts of the law making process to English MPs, or giving English MPs a power of veto.
This is a complex constitutional area and we are all inviting comments on the proposals. However, I am absolutely clear that this must be resolved and resolved very soon. 85% of UK citizens live in England and yet our laws are affected by MPs with no direct accountability. This situation has been going on for too long. Now is the time to resolve it.