Creaking mechanism: The British Constitution needs modernising if it is to serve a semi-devolved United Kingdom

For a knotty constitutional problem that has vexed the finest minds for decades, the Government’s proposals for so-called English Votes for English Laws is a surprisingly elegant solution. The West Lothian Question, to use its older title, asked why an MP sitting for a Scottish constituency in Lothian could vote on, say, the organisation of the NHS in the rest of the UK, but an English, Welsh or Northern Irish MP would never be able to vote on a matter devolved to the Scottish Parliament. The notion of a double-majority – where, as appropriate, Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish members can vote but not decide on matters relating to England – is about the best compromise that can be reached in the short term to such unprecedented circumstances as we now face.