Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

Thanks to our Westminster Correspondent Ruth McDonald for drawing my attention to this story run by our Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Scotland colleague David Porter. The Ulster Unionists may have had no luck in convincing the Assembly last month that they should back their proposal for a Royal Commission on the UK, but the Westminster government has gone ahead and set up a cabinet committee to look at ways of strengthening the union.

According to David Porter, a senior source has said that part of the committee's remit will be to '' reclaim devolution from Alex Salmond''.

David continues "The SNP's victory in last year's Holyrood elections has forced the all political parties to re-evaluate how devolution is working...Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives have already entered cross party talks on a constitutional commission for Scotland....Now constitutional reform is back on the agenda at the highest levels of the UK government...A constitutional committee chaired by the Justice Secretary, Jack Straw and including the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Secretary, the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Secretaries is looking at the wider question of constitutional reform throughout the UK. As part of its deliberations its likely to consider the issue of representation and MPs voting--- in other words the thorny topic of the so called West Lothian question."

So what chance a Labour committee stopping Scottish Labour MPs voting on English matters? And if they do how will any further constitutional reforms influence politics here?

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