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Wings Over Scotland



English votes for Scottish laws 235

Posted on December 11, 2014 by

One of our ever-alert agents uncovered this for us today. Published quietly last week by the House Of Commons Library and completely unremarked-upon by the Scottish media, it’s a document whose introductory text makes the relevant point concisely and eloquently without any need for elaboration or explanation on our part.

“The impact of removing Scottish MPs from the records of historic Commons divisions is also estimated. Of approximately 3,600 divisions to occur between 26th June 2001 and 26 September 2014, 22 (0.6%) would have concluded differently had the votes of Scottish MPs not been counted.

The note also compares, for each division since 2001, the lobby in which the majority of MPs per constituent country of the UK have voted to the lobby in which the majority of UK MPs voted.

In the current Parliament the lobby in which the majority of English MPs have voted has coincided with that of the majority of UK MPs for 99% of divisions. The majority of Scottish MPs has coincided with the majority of UK MPs for 24% of divisions; that of Welsh MPs for 26% of divisions.”

The emphasis is ours. England gets what England’s MPs vote for more than 99% of the time. Scotland gets what Scotland’s MPs vote for less than a quarter of the time. We’ll leave it at that.

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    • James Cheyne on Yelling at the tide: “Alf Baird. Scotland does not hold nor ever has done a 1707 Treaty of Union with the parliament of Great…Jan 22, 12:01
    • James Cheyne on Yelling at the tide: “Scots law. The laws that were to “remain the same as before the union” in the treaty of union. NOT…Jan 22, 11:41
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    • Northcode on Yelling at the tide: “Whit an erse am !… I only went and postit my laist comment up oan the wrang threed. Here it…Jan 22, 09:40
    • Hatey McHateface on The Secondhand Amendment: “£20 says it can be trusted to inspire millions of Scots to vote for it in May.Jan 22, 09:37
    • Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh on Yelling at the tide: ““Nostalgia is not a strategy.” (Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, Davos WEF, Switzerland, 20 Jan 2026)Jan 22, 09:28
    • TURABDIN on Yelling at the tide: “AULD LANG SYN…..or maybe not. https://archive.ph/7wBQAJan 22, 09:27
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    • Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “How can he when several million Scots voters continually and consistently go out and vote for more of the same?…Jan 22, 08:54
    • Hatey McHateface on Yelling at the tide: “Such a cryptic post, Scot. What is it about rule from Brussels that so many so-called Indy supporters find so…Jan 22, 08:50
    • Onlooker on Yelling at the tide: “Any updates on the Alex Salmond case? I hope it’s still going ahead. Be quite willing to kick money into…Jan 22, 03:08
    • Saffron Robe on Yelling at the tide: “Well done, Stuart. Keep at them. No one is above the law and that includes the judiciary.Jan 22, 01:06
    • AdamH on Yelling at the tide: “What would happen to an FOI request for the “correspondence with judicial colleague”?Jan 22, 00:52
    • Jason Smoothpiece on Yelling at the tide: “Harrumph Know your place man.Jan 21, 22:37
    • Marie on Yelling at the tide: “I have as much confidence in the Scottish judiciary as I have in Scotland’s politicians – zero.Jan 21, 22:19
    • sarah on Yelling at the tide: “@ Dave G: “Judge Susan Walker – a member of the Diversity Taskforce…set up by the Senior President of Tribunals.”…Jan 21, 22:08
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    • McDuff on Yelling at the tide: “A brilliant letter rev.Jan 21, 21:43
    • Dave G on Yelling at the tide: “I don’t know if it is of any significance but Judge Susan Walker’s CV states “She is a member of…Jan 21, 21:22
    • Morgatron on Yelling at the tide: “Great letter Stu.Jan 21, 21:06
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    • Hatey McHateface on The Secondhand Amendment: “You’ve got the gas chambers and the incinerators, Confused. Let’s hope that’s enough to get Barbie back. This place just…Jan 21, 19:52
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