Issue link: https://htpgraphics.uberflip.com/i/464860
48 | REVIEW OF PARLIAMENT Review of Parliament The 300-year-old union between Scotland and England suffered what one MP called 'a near-death experience' in the Scottish independence referendum on 17 September, and far from closing down the debate for a generation the result has raised profound questions about the relationship between the member nations of the UK. When MPs debated the aftermath of the referendum, the solidarity that the pro-union parties displayed during the campaign had evaporated. As the polls had tightened, their leaders had signed up to 'the vow' – an offer of substantial new devolved power for the Scottish Parliament, plus the continuation of the present increasingly controversial funding system, 'the Barnett formula', if Scots stayed within the Union. But within hours of the result emerging, David Cameron announced that he wanted to implement 'English votes for English laws' (EVEL) in tandem with the further devolution promised to Scots. This would end the parliamentary anomaly that allows Scottish MPs to vote on England-only matters – when they and English MPs have no say over similar questions in Scotland. It is a move that Labour MPs believe would sharply reduce their party's chance of being able to govern the whole of the UK – and it meant the status of England, rather than the promise made to Scotland, dominated the debate. Opening proceedings, the Leader of the House, William Hague, said the demand for a 'better and fairer' constitutional settlement was 'palpable and serious,' adding: 'I reject, from the outset, the idea that fairness for England is disrupting and dangerous to the United Kingdom; it is part of the effort to keep the United Kingdom together, just as fairness for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has always been.' David Cameron and Alex Salmond at the signing of the Edinburgh Agreement The Commons debates the future shape of the UK, after the Scottish independence referendum