(Speaking in the debate on English Votes for English Laws - EVEL) on 13th July 2021
It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Andrew Bowie).
I speak in support of the motion. I acknowledge the good intentions behind the creation of EVEL and I recognise, too, the anxieties of some of my English colleagues. However, EVEL was born out of an imperfect devolved settlement, or, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (John Redwood) called it, a lopsided settlement. Of course, no settlement is ever perfect, but it was conceived at least in part in an attempt to balance inequities that arose for English voters as a result of the devolved settlement. As a corrective, however, EVEL did not address the root cause and could never therefore have been an enduring or satisfactory solution.
Parliament stands as the expression of the sovereignty of the British people. Therefore, it is not the appropriate vehicle for a particular form of devolution. EVEL diminishes the standing of non-English MPs and by extension, non-English Ministers. It also clouds the perception of our British Parliament, hinting at an English Parliament with non-English MPs strapped on. But that is something we are not.
Voters must know where the buck stops and who to approach for redress. Politicians must agree with one another about who is in charge, something we debate regularly here. A system without such clarity risks being pulled apart. I support the principle of subsidiarity, but standing here today I am clear that an effective and strengthened relationship between this Parliament and devolved and local Administrations, one which would address the worries of underrepresentation in Glasgow, Grimsby or Glanwydden, must be built on clarity and the clear premise that sovereignty lies with and flows from this Parliament.
For this country to thrive in perpetuity, we must never surrender the belief that there is a British people and that their voice is expressed here in this Parliament. We must never allow the principle of one Britain, one vote to be replaced by a precarious balancing act between competing nations. This is reason enough for me to support the motion today. English votes for English laws may have been for some, and for a time, a necessary EVEL, but today I hope its day is done.
To watch Robin in Parliament click on the link below.
https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/e2e28733-00ab-43bf-bf68-a4f828a4d…
Yn siarad yn y ddadl ar Pleidleisiau o Loegr dros Gyfreithiau Lloegr – EVEL) ar y 13eg o Orffennaf 2021
Mae’n bleser cael dilyn fy Nghyfaill Anrhydeddus dros Orllewin Swydd Aberdeen a Kincardine (Andrew Bowie).
Rwy’n siarad o blaid y cynnig. Rwy’n cydnabod y bwriadau da sy’n sail i greu EVEL ac rwy’n cydnabod, hefyd, bryderon rhai o’m cyd-Aelodau o Loegr. Deilliodd EVEL, fodd bynnag, o setliad datganoledig amherffaith, neu, fel y galwodd fy Nghyfaill Anrhydeddus yr Aelod dros Wokingham (John Redwood) ef, setliad anghytbwys. Nid yw unrhyw setliad yn berffaith, fyth, wrth gwrs, ond cafodd ei greu, yn rhannol o leiaf, mewn ymgais i geisio cydbwyso’r anghydraddoldebau oedd yn codi ym mhrofiad pleidleiswyr o Loegr, o ganlyniad i’r setliad datganoledig. I wneud iawn am hynny, fodd bynnag, nid aeth EVEL i’r afael ȃ gwraidd y mater, ac nid allai fyth, felly, fod wedi bod yn ddatrysiad parhaol na boddhaol.
Mae’r Senedd yn fynegiant o sofraniaeth y bobl Brydeinig. Nid yw’n gyfrwng priodol, felly, ar gyfer ffurf neilltuol o ddatganoli. Mae EVEL yn gwanhau safiad ASau nad ydynt o Loegr, a thrwy hynny, Weinidogion nad ydynt o Loegr. Mae hefyd yn cymylu’r ddealltwriaeth o’r hyn yw’n Senedd Brydeinig, gan greu awgrym o Senedd i Loegr, gydag ASau nad ydynt o Loegr fel ‘ychwanegiad’ ati. Ond nid dyna’r hyn ŷm ni.
Mae’n rheidrwydd bod pleidleiswyr yn gwybod pwy sy’n atebol am beth, a phwy y dylent fynd atynt er mwyn i gam gael ei unioni. Mae’n rhaid i wleidyddion gytuno ȃ’i gilydd ynghylch pwy sy’n rheoli – mae hyn yn rhywbeth rydym yn ei drafod yma’n aml. Mae risg i system sydd heb eglurder o’r fath, gael ei darnio. Rwy’n cefnogi’r egwyddor o sybsidiaraedd, ond wrth sefyll yma heddiw, rwy’n argyhoeddedig ei bod yn angenrheidiol i berthynas effeithiol, gryfach, rhwng y Senedd hon, a’r Gweinyddiaethau datganoledig a lleol – perthynas fyddai’n mynd i’r afael ȃ’r pryderon o dangynrychiolaeth yng Nglasgow, Grimsby neu Lanwydden – gael ei hadeiladu ar eglurder, a’r cynsail clir bod sofraniaeth yn nwylo, ac yn deillio o’r Senedd hon.
Er mwyn i’r wlad hon ffynnu’n fythol barhaus, ni ddylem fyth ollwng gafael o’r gred ym modolaeth – y bobl Brydeinig – a bod eu llais yn cael ei fynegi yma yn y Senedd hon. Ni ddylem fyth ganiatáu i’r egwyddor o un Prydain, un bleidlais, gael ei ddisodli gan ymgais fregus o geisio cadw’r ddysgl yn wastad rhwng cenhedloedd sy’n cystadlu ȃ’i gilydd. Mae hyn yn ddigon o reswm i mi gefnogi’r cynnig heddiw. Gall fod Pleidleisiau o Loegr dros Gyfreithiau Lloegr, i rai, ac am gyfnod o amser, fod wedi bod yn ddrwg angenrheidiol, ond heddiw rwy’n gobeithio bod ei amser ar ben.
I wylio Robin yn y Senedd cliciwch ar y ddolen isod.