LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron said he would aim to give lawmakers from England a veto over laws that do not apply to other parts of Britain, a move that could appeal to voters flirting with a surging right-wing party set to win a second parliament seat on Thursday.
British politicians have argued over how the country should be governed since September, when additional powers, including over tax raising, were promised to Scotland to help defeat a vote for its independence.
Because separate administrations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland decide many of their own affairs, the whole British parliament sometimes votes on matters that affect only England, which accounts for 83 percent of the UK population.
That has riled many English politicians, including some from Cameron’s own Conservative Party, and given fodder to the mainly England-based anti-EU United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) which polls predict will win a second seat in the British parliament in a special election on Thursday.
Cameron said on Thursday that if he is re-elected in a national vote in May next year he will address the issue. He would plan to put forward detailed proposals early next year.
“Where there is a separate and distinct effect on England, the consent of English MPs (members of parliament) should be required. You have got to be able to put that principal into action,” he told a cross-party committee of lawmakers.
Read more at Reuters
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