St George’s Day and English Affairs

Christine Jardine Excerpts

Thursday 8th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Rosindell]

My right hon. Friend will know that I am a very strong supporter of this Parliament and this United Kingdom. I was not, of course, a Member of this House when devolution was introduced, but had I been here at the time, I most certainly would not have voted to break up our United Kingdom in the way that we have done by creating different Parliaments and Assemblies across the UK—including the London Assembly, which I would love to see abolished very soon.

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

I appreciate that the hon. Member is speaking about St George’s day and English affairs, but I would just take issue with his use of the phrase “break up” to describe the effect of devolution on our country. We devolved some of the power closer to the people so that they felt more represented. That was not an attempt to break up the country. I say as a member of the party which, along with the Labour party, was instrumental in achieving devolution that it was to hold the country together while allowing people to feel closer to where decisions are made.

[Andrew Rosindell]

I have the utmost respect for the hon. Lady, and she makes an extremely valid and important point. Nobody wants to break up the United Kingdom, and I did not intend to cause offence by saying that. I believe that all Members of Parliament should be equal. Elected representatives should be equal, but if we create different types of elected representation at different levels, it means that English MPs have a different role from Scottish MPs, because they have MSPs in Scotland, who have another role. By doing so, we are muddling up our constitution, and I regret that that happened, but we have to move on. That is now a quarter of a century ago, and we need to think about the future.

There have been certain attempts to deconstruct that democratic deficit. We had English votes for English laws, also known as EVEL. That procedure was brought into the House. Unitary authorities and mayoralties have been created across England, and we are seeing more being created as we speak. The procedure for creating mayoralties is too remote and the procedure to make them meaningful and to appeal to people who feel ignored is looked at with contempt. These mayoralties are not supported by most people. I think they believe in local democracy at a truly local level, and that is not solved by creating vast regional mayoralties and assemblies that are not in tune with local people in local communities.

There may be merit in the new devolutionary arrangements being considered at local government level, but those will only be effective if they address the cultural, economic and political realities of the localities with which they are concerned. For example, yesterday I led an Adjournment debate about the London borough of Havering and Essex devolution. Apparently, Havering is not allowed to be considered as part of devolution in Essex. In that debate, I highlighted how successive regional London authorities and the plans for Essex devolution have ignored the local Essex identities of my constituents, particularly in Romford. That has happened under successive Governments.

The historic counties, in the patchwork of traditional England, will play an important part in devolution. I hope the Minister will take back the point that perhaps the historic counties and the ceremonial counties could be aligned to avoid the muddle and confusion. Many Members and I have to debate with people over whether places such as Romford are really Essex or London—what are we? It muddles a lot of people’s minds and creates a lot of confusion, and it needs to be resolved. Aligning the historic and the ceremonial counties would go a long way to solving that. It would mean that local government could be purely for administration and the provision of local services, and it would mean that people’s local identities were not mixed up.

I therefore request that the Government open up a discussion and a plan for restoring all the facets of the English way of life, so that my constituents no longer feel that they are being ignored. It is an obvious but integral point that any attempt to deconstruct and replace the current devolutionary arrangements can only be successful if hard-working people, like my constituents in Romford, Essex, are listened to and heard. I am sure that all Members of the House would agree that their constituents’ voices must be heard. English democracy might then be restored to the place of pride it used to occupy, just as the English cultural repertoire that had pride of place in Speaker’s House earlier this year made such an impact on so many of us.

As we reflect on our proud English history, our magnificent British traditions, the Commonwealth of nations, the British overseas territories, the Crown dependencies and the wider British family, and all that our forebears achieved in giving us the magnificent land and magnificent island nation that we have today, I can do no better than to quote the words of Sir Winston Churchill:

“Advance Britannia! Long Live the Cause of Freedom! God Save the King!”—[Official Report, 8 May 1945; Vol. 410, c. 1869.]