The future's bright

[andrewducker]

[Poll #1723692]

Comments

[skington.livejournal.com]

I'd say that Scottish independence (which is far more likely than Welsh or Northern Irish independence) is as likely as Belgium splitting into Wallonia and Flanders. Which is to say that people will keep on talking about it, but it will never actually happen.

[drplokta]

No one cares enough to expend the political capital and Parliamentary time that would be required to stop the non-English MPs from voting on England-only matters. Everyone has more pressing priorities. So nothing will change.

[andrewducker]

It's an odd situation. It's very much in Labour's interests to preserve the union, as a fair number of their MPs are Scottish in origin. The Conservatives would be better off with Scotland separated off, but have a very traditionalist group of supporters that would rather keep the country together.

I suspect we'll end up with non-English MPs being prevented from voting on purely-English matters, but that this will take a lot of shouting...

[feorag.livejournal.com]

Scotland will be made independent, whether she likes it or not, the minute the oil and gas runs out.

[pete stevens (from livejournal.com)]

One of

a: Ireland will have joined the newly named United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

b: England, Wales and Scotland will have all separated to become independent countries within the EU and Northen Ireland will have five sets of warring separatists each declaring that the true Northern Ireland is Welsh, Scottish, Irish, English or Independent.

c: Germany will have finished it's project of buying the whole of the EU and we'll technically all be German anyway.

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

I voted for all three of the last three, because I don't know which will happen: either

- this will stay the same, or
- Non-English MPs won't vote on purely English matters, either by convention or by law, or
- Some cataclysmic change (climate change, Singularity etc) will render the whole thing moot.

I'd rate the first of these as the most likely, but not by much.

[johncoxon.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure. Labour don't have an English majority even when they're doing very well and the Conservatives are opposed to devolution so I would expect the status quo to continue for a while, but on the other hand, I think the current system is incredibly broken.

[matgb]

The current system, where MPs vote on bills that don't affect them will continue

That's not the current system. Methinks some people need to reread Govt of Scotland Act, the definition of the word "devolution" and look up the constitutional silliness that is an Order in Council.

Theoretically, I can explain it, but Ming Campbell does it much much better than me and actually understands it.

[fub.livejournal.com]

Or the UK will turn into a federal state, where it is clearly demarked what the individual parts can do and what falls under the power of the federation. It works for the US and Germany, amongst others.

[danieldwilliam.livejournal.com]

I think the drift of powers and responsibilties to the EU on "Big" things like foreign policy, defence policy and large parts of market regulation and economic policy and one "small" things, like criminal law to the most appropriate subsidiary legislature will make the question of Westminster's relationship with Holyrood moot.

[don-fitch.livejournal.com]

I expect most First World (& many other) nations to be owned/controlled by Corporate Entities within fifty years. But then, I'm a USAn.