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The new British Irish Council (BIC) was established
as part of the Good Friday Agreement to enhance cooperation between Ireland
and all the territories of the UK. The only missing "territory"
is England which, having no specific Parliament, does not have an elected
First Minister to represent it. Is it not time that England was granted equal rights with the rest of the UK, with an established Parliament of its own. |
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The Midlothian Question. One response to this would be for English MPs to meet and vote separately
on English matters. We believe we should go further with a new institution,
an 'English Parliament'. We must see that the voters of England are fairly
represented. |
| It is emphasized that this site will not reflect any ethnic, racial or cultural bias in the definition of the word English. The proposition will be argued solely on a territorial definition of England. |
| It is increasingly apparent that devolution for Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland is already creating anomalies in what is no
longer a United Kingdom. The Westminster government is proposing to legislate to restrict the rights of parents to use physical punishment to discipline children, but this will apply to England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will decide separately. Is it unreasonable to require Westminster MPs from the other three member territories to abstain from voting on this matter? The Scottish parliament has already decided that hunting with hounds shall be banned, any pack hunting the English borders will have to be sure that the hounds are aware of the dividing line. There has been recent discussion on what constitutes 'Englishness'. The time is now ripe for the term to be redefined ( if there ever has been an agreed definition) and at the same time for the English to be re-created as were the Scots a couple of hundred years ago.JJO. |
| The flag of Great Britain, wrongly called the Union Jack has its earliest basis in 1606, being the red cross of England superimposed on the white cross of Scotland, with the blue field of the latter. The red cross was bordered with white, it's own correct field. From January 1st. 1801, the effective date of the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland, the need arose to incorporate the cross of St. Patrick (diagonal red on white) with the existing flag. Wales has never been represented on the flag. Perhaps the time has now come to consider the future of the Union flag to reflect the recent political changes. Certainly an initial change could be the removal of St. Patricks cross, a move which could have the support of the people of both Southern and Northern Ireland, with consideration given to the question of the removal of the Scottish cross. No doubt objections will be raised on the grounds that there is still, nominally, a United Kingdom but, pro tem, an interim design to represent the Westminster Government could be used, until such times as total devolution is achieved.WB. . |
| How can I now feel British following devolution? A new English nationalism is as yet underdeveloped but if English voters are to be properly represented the status quo is no longer a long term option. To be English you must love England whatever your mother tongue or ethnic origin, you must feel English not British. The concept of the United Kingdom has lost the support of not only the Scots. but a substantial section of the English too. It is only sensible to recognize the fact and act upon it. Surely also only a matter of time before the problem of Northern Ireland is solved and England can be relieved of a further burden of debt as that territory leaves the discredited "United Kingdom".JJO |
| There has been a strong push in Scotland for constitutional change,
to have resisted it completely would have been undemocratic, and would
have turned Scottish independence from a possibility into a probability. In constitutional matters we have traditionally been clever in bending in order not to break. That is why we have been largely successful in avoiding revolutions. The form of devolution we have, however, is half-baked. England is at a disadvantage compared with Scotland and Wales, and MPs representing English seats in the Commons hve fewer voting rights than those representing Scottish and Welsh constituencies. The Prime Minister has again recently chosen not to answer the "West Lothian" question, but eventually it will have to be dealt with - through the creation of a parliament for England or parliaments for each of its regions. While the debates about devolution go on among political leaders, more and more Scots feel Scottish rather than British, and, partly in reaction to this, an English indentity is slowly but steadily gaining ground at the expense of a British one in England.JB. |
| Can it be that the Scots are not as enamoured of Scotland as they profess to be, as one hears an increasing number of Scottish accents in the English media are they fugitives are they here for another reason?. The government also has a disproportionate number of Scots in its ministerial posts. Should not we English be concerned that there may well be a hidden agenda of infiltration with sinister motives.TW. |
| In a recent poll in the South Norfolk constituency in which a 1000 people took part- 82% believe England should have a separate parliament- 94% said Scottish MPs should not be allowed to vote on English matters in the House of Commons- 92% were not in favour of a single European currency- 97% said that UK interest rates should be set by the Bank of England and not be the European Central Bank in Frankfurt and 70% described themselves as English.WB. |
| Updated 19th March 2004 |