"Since 1999 Scotland and Wales have had their own National
Parliament/Assembly with politicians elected by and responsible
to the electorates in Scotland and Wales. Various powers
have been devolved from the UK Parliament in Westminster
to allow these bodies to develop and implement policies
which reflect the particular needs of the peoples of Scotland
and Wales.
As England does not have its own separate National Parliament/Assembly,
the UK Parliament in Westminster is responsible for passing
legislation which relates just to England. Since the UK
Parliament includes Members of Parliament from all parts
of the UK, this means that Scottish and Welsh MPs are
able to, and do, vote on those pieces of legislation which
relate to England alone. This
situation, where Scottish and Welsh MPs can, and do,
vote on England-only issues (whereas similar issues
in Scotland and Wales are determined only by the members
of the Scottish and Welsh National Parliament/Assembly),
is sometimes referred to as the 'West Lothian Question'."
YouGov polled a sample of 2364 people
in all parts of Britain between Feb 20th and Feb 23rd
2004
The Question asked was:
Which of the following options do
you prefer?
Option 1 : The division
of England into nine Regions, each having their own
elected assemblies, which will have power to take some
decisions but not to create new laws (Regionalisation)
Option 2 : A
Parliament for England with the power to allow it to
develop and implement policies which reflect the particular
needs of the people of England (English Parliament)
Option 3 : Scottish
and Welsh members of the UK Parliament having their
voting rights restricted to prevent them from voting
on England-only issue (English votes on English matters)
Option 4 :Continue
with the status quo
Option 5 : Don't know
Regionalisation has less than 11% support