David Cameron calls Chequers summit: can he halt rebellion?
After promising Scotland more powers, PM needs to reach a fair constitutional settlement for UK
David Cameron will host a summit of senior Tory MPs at Chequers today to discuss a new constitutional settlement for the UK in the wake of the Scottish referendum.
Scotland has rejected independence, but mounting support for the Yes campaign in the weeks before the vote led the Prime Minister to hastily offer Scotland a raft of newly devolved powers. He is now under pressure from his own MPs to "balance the kingdom" with constitutional changes that will also benefit England.
The Daily Telegraph says today's summit of more than 20 MPs, including some of Cameron's most outspoken critics, is "perhaps the most important meeting of senior Conservatives to take place between now and the general election".
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So what will they be discussing at the Buckinghamshire estate and can Cameron head off a rebellion?
Why are some Tory MPs unhappy?
Cameron has committed to publishing a draft bill in January setting out the new devolved powers for Scotland. It is a tight timetable, especially since MPs are divided on how sweeping a reform they will accept, says the Financial Times. His critics are unwilling simply to dish out more powers to Holyrood without ensuring that the interests of English voters are protected. Demands from MPs include a reform in which only English MPs can vote on English laws and an end to the Barnett formula, the system that calculates how public money is divided between Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Some critics have called for a new federal system, with the introduction of an English first minister or English parliament, while maintaining a UK prime minister. Others go further, questioning why Westminster should not devolve equivalent powers to cities and regions across England with similar populations to Scotland.
What are the issues with the Barnett formula?
Some MPs want to see an end to the Barnett formula, which is partly based on the population of each nation and partly on which powers each nation has devolved to them. Even its inventor, the former Labour Treasury secretary Joel Barnett, is "troubled" by the formula, which he says he created as a "short-term political fix" in the 1970s. The "grossly unfair" system has led to Scotland receiving around 20 per cent more public money per capita than England, he writes in the Daily Mail. However, in the weeks before the Scottish referendum, Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg vowed that the system should continue. Barnett suggests it should be scrapped in favour of a system based on public need.
What are the issues with English votes for English MPs?
"As a mantra, this has the merit of simplicity," says the FT. However, it fails to recognise that reducing the roles of Scottish MPs – two in three of whom are Labour – could undermine a future Labour administration, "threatening a constitutional clash", says the newspaper. Some MPs want to go a step further and introduce a new first minister for England or an English-only parliament. In the Sunday Times, Camilla Cavendish warns that "releasing the federalist genie risks conjuring up a UK of little Napoleons".
What has Cameron said?
The Prime Minister has said his pledge to give Scotland more powers should go hand in hand with changing the role of Scottish politicians at Westminster. Although Downing Street has since told the BBC that more powers will be handed to Holyrood regardless of whether there is an agreement over the so-called "English votes for English laws". The Daily Telegraph says this is not enough for many, with some Tory MPs privately threatening to "inflict a series of rebellions on the Prime Minister which would 'dwarf' the uprisings they have launched over Europe".
Who will attend the Chequers summit?
Bernard Jenkin, one of the party's most influential Eurosceptic MPs, will be at the summit. He has proposed turning the UK into a federal system, with a new English first minister. He will be joined by former Cabinet minister John Redwood, who has warned that England must not be "fobbed" off with anything less than an English parliament. Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, is determined that the Barnett formula should be abolished in favour of a fairer system, while Dominic Raab, another Conservative MP, says he will force a Commons vote on the issue of the Barnett formula. Leader of the House of Commons William Hague and Tory chief whip Michael Gove are expected to attend the meeting in a bid to help Cameron unite his rebellious colleagues.
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