Memorandum submitted by Denis Latimer
When candidates for election to the UK Parliament
seek support in Scottish constituencies, they do not undertake
to represent their voters' interests regarding matters which have
been devolved to the Scottish Parliament and when seeking re-election
they do not have to answer to their constituents for action they
have taken regarding such matters. They therefore have no democratic
mandate to deal with such matters and cannot be regarded as representing
their constituents when doing so.
Before devolution was introduced, all MPs represented
their constituents for the full range of Parliamentary responsibilities
but MPs from Scotland ceased to do so subsequently. That they
have been allowed to continue participating in all aspects of
government outside Scotland was a major, undeclared, undemocratic
change in the UK constitution.
The way the "West Lothian question"
was raised only served to confuse the real issue. The point is
not where these MPs were elected but that they do not fully represent
their voters. We claim to be a representative democracy and, as
such, we cannot reasonably have MPs taking part in matters for
which nobody has chosen them as their representatives.
Surely this is an anomaly which the Constitutional
Affairs Committee should seriously consider.
March 2007
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