Last Sunday was Battle of Britain Sunday and I attended the service of remembrance at St Stephen’s church at Lympne organised by the Royal Air Forces Association. The church is just a stones throw from the former Lympne aerodrome, which would have been a buzz with furious activity in that summer 74 years ago. In the hands of those few young pilots, taking off in their Spitfire and Hurricane fighter planes, lay the fate of our struggle in the Second World War. The battle fought out day after day in the skies above Kent, Sussex and Surrey has rightly been called the Battle of Britain, not because of its geography, but because of its significance. Men from right across the United Kingdom fought together defending the south east coast of England, knowing that the future of the whole of Britain hung in the balance on the outcome of their battle. It provides a strong reminder in the aftermath of the Scottish referendum, that we are better working together, and how important in the past have been our shared interests.
I was delighted that the people of Scotland voted clearly and decisively on 18th September to remain a part of the United Kingdom. Now that the referendum campaign is over we need to look at how the structure of government in the United Kingdom can work to best serve the peoples of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. We must not just be concerned with Scotland, but with the whole of our nation. We need to decide which powers could be devolved to the parliaments and assemblies in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh, and which should remain reserved for the United Kingdom parliament at Westminster. We also have to address the concerns of England, and in particular the current right of MPs from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to vote on matters before the House of Commons which have no bearing on their own constituencies.
Policies to do with health and education are largely devolved, so it cannot be right that Scottish MPs, for example, could vote to stop measures being proposed for England, even though they would have no impact in Scotland. Some people say that to make such a distinction would create different classes of MPs, but we already have that divide today. As an English MP I cannot vote on a whole range of matters that affect Scotland, but Scottish MPs do have a say on government policy in England.
The Prime Minister has rightly announced that as well as considering future powers for the devolved assemblies we also have to resolve the question of English votes for English laws in the House of Commons. The strength of our union as a United Kingdom must be based on a constitutional settlement that is fair to all and works in everyone's interests. Now that the question of Scotland’s future in the Union has been resolved, we must settle these other long running concerns once and for all.