Editing West Lothian question (section)

==Other possible answers to the question==
===Reversal of devolution===
Reversion of all devolved powers, and abolition of the devolved administrations. 
No voting member from one region would have power over another region, wherein the voting members of that other region do not have reciprocal rights; all regions would be treated equally.
===English devolution===
===={{anchor|Home Rule All Round}}<!-- [[Home Rule All Round]] redirects here-->English parliament or assembly====
The creation of a [[devolved English parliament|devolved English parliament or assembly]], with full legislative powers, akin to the [[Scottish Parliament]] is seen by some as a solution to this problem,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thecep.org.uk/ |title=Campaign for an English Parliament |access-date=6 November 2004 |archive-date=25 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091125174203/http://www.thecep.org.uk/wordpress/conference-2008/blogging-from-the-conference-mike-knowles/ |url-status=live }}</ref> with full legislative powers also being conferred on the existing [[Welsh Parliament]]. The Westminster (United Kingdom) Parliament would continue to meet and legislate on matters of UK-wide competence such as Defence, Foreign Affairs and economic matters with the parliaments of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland legislating locally. In the early-20th-century context of Irish home rule, the equivalent option was dubbed '''Home Rule All Round'''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kendle|first=J. E.|year=1968|title=The Round Table Movement and 'Home Rule All Round'   |jstor=2637785|journal=The Historical Journal|publisher=Cambridge University Press|volume=11|issue=2|pages=332–353|doi=10.1017/S0018246X00002041|s2cid=159471230 }}</ref>

[[Lord Falconer]], the former [[Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs]], has stated that he believes that an English Parliament would "dwarf all other institutions."<ref>{{cite web |quote=A possible answer to this might be an English Parliament consisting of all the 529 English MPs, a sort of 'English Grand Committee' – For the Majority Party in Parliament might not have the majority of English constituencies. |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4792120.stm |title=No English parliament&nbsp;— Falconer |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=10 March 2006 |access-date=10 March 2006 |archive-date=14 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314110857/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4792120.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Peter Hain]], who campaigned for a Welsh Assembly, warned that creating an English parliament or trying to stop Scottish and Welsh MPs from voting on England-only matters would break up the Union.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/06/28/peter-hain-warns-banning-welsh-mps-from-english-votes-will-destroy-union-91466-28952850/ |title=Peter Hain warns banning Welsh MPs from English votes will 'destroy' Union |publisher=Wales Online |date=28 June 2011 |access-date=9 July 2013 |archive-date=22 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120122152546/http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/06/28/peter-hain-warns-banning-welsh-mps-from-english-votes-will-destroy-union-91466-28952850/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Chuka Umunna]] suggested in July 2015 that the Labour Party should support the creation of a separate English parliament, as part of a federal United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/22/chuka-umunna-calls-for-english-parliament-federal-uk |title=Chuka Umunna calls for an English parliament and a federal UK |first=Patrick |last=Wintour |work=The Guardian |date=22 July 2015 |access-date=24 October 2015 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924123621/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/22/chuka-umunna-calls-for-english-parliament-federal-uk |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Regional assemblies====
The Labour government of [[Tony Blair]] attempted to address part of the West Lothian question by introducing English [[Regional assembly (England)|regional assemblies]] with no legislative powers. Originally, it was planned that these would be directly elected. The [[London Assembly]] was the first of these, established following a [[1998 London referendum|referendum]] in 1998, in which public and media attention was focused principally on the post of [[Mayor of London]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/london_referendum/89327.stm 'Overwhelming vote for Mayor'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730030039/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/london_referendum/89327.stm |date=30 July 2017 }}, [[BBC News Online]], 8 May 1998</ref> [[Ken Livingstone]] was the first directly elected mayor of London. He started his victory speech with "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted 14 years ago", making it clear he saw the London Assembly as a recreation of a similar London wide authority to that of the [[Greater London Council]], which he had led before it was abolished in the 1980s.<ref>Paul Waugh and Andrew Grice. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090423142122/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ken-reclaims-the-capital-718744.html Ken reclaims the capital], [[The Independent]] 6 May 2000</ref>

Further progress was thwarted when a [[2004 Northern England devolution referendums|referendum]] in the [[North East England|North East]] rejected the proposal for an elected assembly in November 2004<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3984387.stm North East votes 'no' to assembly] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070121041029/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3984387.stm |date=21 January 2007 }}, [[BBC News Online]], 5 November 2004</ref> leading to the shelving of similar proposals for other English regions. The Regional Development Agencies were all scrapped by March 2012 with their powers and functions being transferred either to local government or in the case of London, the Greater London Authority.

====Increased powers to English counties and cities====
[[Douglas Carswell]] and [[Daniel Hannan]] have proposed that all the powers currently devolved to the Scottish Parliament should also be devolved to the English counties and cities. This would mean that the situation of Scottish MPs voting on policy which only affected England would no longer arise, because parliament would no longer be responsible for areas of policy which affected only England. Therefore, parliament would have to choose to make policy either for the United Kingdom as a whole, or not at all.
Carswell and Hannan write: "All the fields of policy currently within the purview of the Holyrood Parliament should be transferred to English counties and cities (thereby, incidentally, answering the west Lothian Question)."<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Douglas Carswell |last1=Carswell |first1=Douglas |last2=Hannan |first2=Daniel |title=The Plan: Twelve Months to Renew Britain |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LJ5aYhMYRCsC |year=2008 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-0-9559799-0-3 |access-date=13 January 2021 |archive-date=13 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813094400/https://books.google.com/books?id=LJ5aYhMYRCsC |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Council of England====
In 2022, [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] proposed a body to be known as the "Council of England", chaired by the prime minister, to bring together [[combined authority]] mayors, representatives of local government and other stakeholders.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web | url=https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Commission-on-the-UKs-Future.pdf | title=A New Britain: Renewing our Democracy and Rebuilding our Economy | website=labour.org.uk}}</ref> The Council of England would be complemented by a "Council of the UK" made up of the UK prime minister and the first ministers of the devolved governments and a "Council of the Nations and Regions" which would bring together the UK central government, devolved administrations, and representatives from the different parts of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The three bodies would be supported by their own intergovernmental secretariat.<ref name="auto"/>

In 2024, the new Labour government established a UK wide [[Council of the Nations and Regions]] and an England only [[Mayoral Council]] including ministers from the UK government, the [[Mayor of London]] and mayors of England's combined authorities.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://labour.org.uk/change/serving-the-country/ | title=Serving the country }}</ref> Unlike the proposed "Council of England", the Mayoral Council does not include representatives from local government in areas without a combined authority.

====English territorial office and secretary of state====
The Labour Party manifesto for the [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017 general election]] included a commitment to establish the post of a "Minister for England" within the Department of Communities and Local Government who would work alongside the existing secretaries of state for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.<ref>https://ucrel.lancs.ac.uk/wmatrix/ukmanifestos2017/localpdf/Labour.pdf</ref><ref>https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/37545/like-it-or-not-keir-starmer-will-not-win-without-england</ref>

A 2022 report by the [[Electoral Reform Society]] suggested the establishment of an "England Office" to act as a representative for English regional and local government to the UK government and serve to coordinate between central and local government on English devolved matters. It also called for an "English Leaders' Forum" to bring together UK ministers with combined authority mayors, single local authority mayors and council leaders.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/latest-news-and-research/publications/democracy-made-in-england-where-next-for-english-local-government/ | title=Democracy Made in England: Where Next for English Local Government? }}</ref>

In a report titled ''Devolving English Government'' published in April 2023, to counter what they described as over-centralisation and a democratic deficit in England, the [[Institute for Government]] and the [[University of Cambridge]]'s [[Bennett Institute for Public Policy]] proposed the establishment of an "Office for England" led by a "Secretary of State for England" and the formation of an "English Devolution Council". The Existing [[Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government]] would be split into a Department for Housing and Communities and an Office for England, which would take on responsibility for oversight of devolved and local governance in England. The Secretary of State for England would chair a [[United Kingdom cabinet committee|cabinet committee]] for England including other secretaries of state from departments whose remits mainly apply to England only. The English Devolution Council would include the Mayor of London and existing combined authority mayors. An interim mechanism would be put in place for the participation of local leaders in areas of England without a combined authority. The role of the council would be to debate issues related to local and regional governance in England, to call ministers and experts to provide evidence and to advise the UK central Government on English affairs.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/englishdevolution | title=England needs a 'council of mayors' and Secretary of State to embed English devolution at the heart of Whitehall | date=6 April 2023 }}.</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/blog/devolving-english-government/ | title=England needs a 'council of mayors' and Secretary of State to embed English devolution at the heart of Whitehall – report | date=6 April 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/publications/devolving-english-government/ | title=Devolving English government }}</ref>

===Dissolution of the Union===
Another solution might be the dissolution of the United Kingdom leading to some or all of the [[countries of the United Kingdom]] (England, [[Northern Ireland]], [[Scotland]], and [[Wales]]) becoming independent sovereign states. The [[Scottish National Party]] (SNP), which campaigns for [[Scottish independence]], won an outright majority in the [[Scottish Parliament]] in the [[2011 Scottish election]]. A [[2014 Scottish independence referendum|referendum]] was held on 18 September 2014, with voters rejecting independence by 55% to 45%.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/19/world/europe/scotland-independence-vote/index.html | title = Scottish leader Alex Salmond quits after 'no' vote in independence referendum | publisher = [[CNN]] | date = 19 September 2014 | access-date = 20 September 2014 | archive-date = 20 September 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140920220921/http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/19/world/europe/scotland-independence-vote/index.html | url-status = live }}</ref> In Wales, Welsh Nationalist party [[Plaid Cymru]] holds [[Welsh independence]] as a long-term aim, while [[Propel (political party)|Propel]], formerly the Welsh National Party, more aggressively campaigns for independence. In Northern Ireland there are no mainstream political parties calling for an [[Ulster nationalism|independent Northern Irish state]], but parties calling for a [[united Ireland]] include [[Sinn Féin]] and the [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] (SDLP).

===Reducing the number of Scottish MPs===
{{see also|Number of Westminster MPs}}
During the existence of the [[Parliament of Northern Ireland]] (1921–1972), the number of MPs elected from Northern Ireland to Westminster was below the standard ratio of MPs compared with the rest of the UK.<ref name = "bogdanor">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/24/english-votes-english-laws-absurdity-separatist |title=Why English votes for English laws is a kneejerk absurdity |work=The Guardian |date=24 September 2014 |first=Vernon |last=Bogdanor |access-date=13 December 2016 |archive-date=23 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223110501/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/24/english-votes-english-laws-absurdity-separatist |url-status=live }}</ref> During periods when the predominantly unionist MPs from Northern Ireland deprived Labour of working majorities, Conservatives supported the principle that "every member of the House of Commons is equal to every other member of the House of Commons".<ref name = "bogdanor"/> Scotland traditionally enjoyed a greater number of MPs per head of population than the rest of the UK, but this advantage was reduced significantly at the [[2005 UK general election]].<ref name = "war">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29244524 |title=Scotland votes No: How the UK could now change |first=Esther |last=Webber |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=19 September 2014 |access-date=23 October 2015 |archive-date=3 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103025444/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29244524 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/scotland/article1407195.ece |title=Cut urged for Scots MPs if No wins poll |work=Sunday Times |date=4 May 2014 |access-date=23 October 2015 |first=Jason |last=Allardyce |archive-date=3 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160103025444/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/scotland/article1407195.ece |url-status=dead }}</ref> An argument against the idea of having a lower number of MPs, in return for more devolved powers, is that if the national parliament takes important decisions (such as waging war) then people should be fully represented.<ref name = "war"/>