FactCheck: Do Scottish MPs tell England what to do?

By Channel 4 News

Updated on 05 July 2006

So far West Lothian effect overstated.

The Claim
"We, the Conservatives, have a majority in England. We have MPs from Scotland essentially telling England what to do when they are doing the opposite in Scotland, have no control over what they are doing in their own constituencies in Scotland and are not in any way accountable for the effects their actions have in England."
Alan Duncan, shadow Trade Secretary
The Politics Show, BBC, 2 July 2006

Background
The West Lothian Question was first posed by Tam Dalyell, then MP for Linlithgow, in the 1970s, but it became a live issue when the Scottish Parliament was established in 1999.

Now that responsibility for healthcare, education and a number of other issues have passed to the Scottish parliament, Scottish MPs sitting in Westminster no longer have the power to vote on those issues as far as they affect their own constituents. But they can vote on health or education matters in England.

The issue cuts along party political lines, as the Conservatives have only one Scottish MP, but Labour has 41. One of those Scottish Labour MPs is Gordon Brown, member for Dunfermline East, who is expected to become Prime Minister soon. So the West Lothian Question is likely to stay near the top of the political agenda. But has this constitutional anomaly had as much impact on UK legislation as Alan Duncan suggests?

Analysis
His first remark is simply wrong. After the 2005 general election, the Conservatives won 194 seats in England to Labour's 286, with the Lib Dems taking 47 and two seats won by independents.

So it's Labour which has a 43-seat majority in England, not the Conservatives as Alan Duncan claims.

The Conservatives did get slightly more votes than Labour in England. They polled 35.7 per cent, just ahead of Labour's 35.4 per cent. That still does not constitute a majority of votes for either - that would require more than 50 per cent.

A slip of the tongue on live television, perhaps. But how about the question of Scottish MPs voting on English issues?

Researchers at the Constitution Unit at University College London identified four votes in the 2001-2005 parliament where a measure was carried by Scottish MPs.

The votes were on the second and third readings of two bills. The Health and Social Care Bill, which introduced Foundation Hospitals, and the Higher Education Bill, which introduced Tuition Fees - which are not payable at Scottish universities.

Both bills would have been defeated by a narrow margin (between 1 and 17 votes) if only English MPs had voted. (That's assuming, of course, that the English MPs all voted the same way.)

Since the 2005 election, the government has not had to rely on its Scottish MPs to pass any bills which won't apply in Scotland.

The Terrorism and Identity Cards bills saw major rebellions, but these both apply north of the border, so Scottish MPs can vote on them without quibbles.

The Education and Inspections Bill, meanwhile, was passed with Conservative votes - overwhelmingly English.

The Government also had two big rebellions on the England and Wales-only Racial and Religious Hatred Bill - but both resulted in government defeats.

So to date, Labour hasn't had to rely on Scottish MPs to pass much legislation. This may change, of course - many pundits expect that with its reduced UK majority, Labour will increasingly depend on its Scottish MPs to pass controversial bills.

However, the issue of where legislation applies isn't cut and dried. "It's difficult to define what an English-only bill is," said Meg Russell, senior research fellow at University College London, and a co-author of the Constitution Unit report.

For example, many English hospitals treat patients who live over the border in Wales or Scotland. Should MPs from border constituencies in Wales be able to vote on English health bills?

FactCheck Rating: 3 (How ratings work)

Verdict
While the West Lothian Question remains an important political issue, its practical impact on legislation has to date been limited. Alan Duncan's remarks do not reflect that. The claim about the English majority is simply wrong, and his remarks on Scottish MPs overstate the case. It's not possible to argue on the basis of the facts as they stand that "MPs from Scotland are essentially telling England what to do". In fact they have only played a crucial role in passing two acts.

Sources
Labour's Third Term reform agenda for England will depend on Scottish MPs , Meg Russell and Guy Lodge , Constitution Unit, School of Public Policy, University College London - January 2006
Concentrated minds? Backbench dissent in Labour's third Blair term , Philip Cowley and Mark Stuart

Related Links
FactCheck: Do the Scots subsidise the English?

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