England must have its own Parliament if Scotland remains part of the United Kingdom, according to a Birmingham MP.
Roger Godsiff (Lab Hall Green) said plans to give the Scottish Parliament control over taxation and spending meant other countries in the United Kingdom must have similar powers – and their own elected representatives.
The pledge to give Scotland far more autonomy was made by George Osborne, the Chancellor, after opinion polls suggested the outcome of the independence referendum on September 18 was too close to call.
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The United Kingdom would have to adopt a system of Government similar to the United States, with a relatively weak central administration and powerful autonomous governments in each country, said Mr Godsiff.
Birmingham MP Gisela Stuart (Lab Edgbaston) also warned that giving Scotland more autonomy, an option known as devolution max or devo max, would have to mean changes to the way England is governed.
Fellow Birmingham MP John Hemming said the West Midlands could benefit if Scots chose independence - because there would be more money for public spending.
They were speaking as the national parties at Westminster launched a last-ditch joint campaign to try to convince Scots to stay in the union.
Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, apparently backed by David Cameron as well as Ed Miliband, Mr Brown’s successor as Labour leader, said an agreement on new powers for Scotland would be published by St Andrew’s Day, November 30.
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Mr Cameron ordered the Saltire to be flown above Downing Street while the three main party leaders skipped questions to the Prime Minister in the Commons and headed to Scotland instead, to campaign for a “no” vote.
Mr Godsiff said England would need its own Parliament if Scotland remained in the United Kingdom.
He said: “Powers have been promised to the Scottish people, quite understandably, to try to entice them to stay within the United Kingdom.
“I very much welcome that. However, there are consequences, and those will be that you’ll have to offer exactly the same thing to Wales and exactly the same thing to the Northern Ireland assembly.
“And if you have all three of those countries having what’s called ‘devo max’ then there is an unanswerable case for an English Parliament, and for the whole structure of the United Kingdom to be changed into a federal one, with each of the four countries having their own parliaments with very considerable devolution of powers. The remaining 海角视频 Parliament would then be massively scaled down to half or even a third of their existing members having remaining powers over foreign policy, defence, immigration etc.
“So you would move essentially to the same structure that you have in America, where the states have massive devolution of powers and the federal government deals with foreign policy, defence.”
He said David Cameron had made “an appalling error of judgement” by insisting that the referendum should only allow Scots to choose between quitting or staying in the union, when Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond had actually wanted the third option of increased devolution on the ballot paper.
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The Government had now been forced to offer this third option anyway, he said.
But Mr Godsiff also criticised Alistair Darling, the Labour politician leading the “no” campaign.
He said: “I also think the Better Together campaign stands accused of appalling miscalculations over the way they have run their campaign.
“If you are going to win a campaign you’ve got to not just win the accountants’ economic argument – you’ve got to win the hearts and minds of people.”
Ms Stuart referred to the so-called “West Lothian question”, which asks why an MP representing West Bromwich should have no say on Scottish matters – which are decided by the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood – while an MP representing West Lothian in Scotland is allowed to vote on English matters at Westminster.
She said: “Whatever the outcome of the referendum it will matter to us, because we now see a greater promise of devolved powers to Scotland as an inducement to make it stay as part of the union.
“The will mean that the English regions, and particularly the English cities outside London, will look at their relationship with Westminster and say that we too deserve greater autonomy in our decision-making process.
“And the other thing is that the West Lothian question, which we’ve all tended to dismiss, the Commons will simply have to look at that.”
MP Steve McCabe (Lab Selly Oak) said: “We will inevitably face demands that the English regions have more say and more control over their own affairs.
“I don’t think that’s a bad thing. A new constitutional settlement would be a good idea.”
Mr McCabe said he particularly welcomed the prospect of Birmingham or a “Greater Birmingham” region making more decisions over funding, but there would also need to be changes to the way Westminster works.
Mr Hemming said that Scotland currently received extra funding for public services under the Barnett formula, which means public spending per person is higher north of the border.
He said spending could increase in England if Scotland became independent.
Mr Hemming said: “Obviously the Barnett formula would go. At the moment that is £1,300 per head for Scotland.
“It could end up with more public spending in regions like ours.”
“I think it would be sensible to keep the union but I don’t think a ‘yes’ vote would necessarily be a disaster.”