[Z]

Originally Posted by MTVN

I think that's a bit unfair tbh. A lot of English resent the fact that the three other nations all have some form of control over issues in their respective country, free from Westminster involvement when we dont have that. A lot of Scots were unhappy with English MP's being the predominant opinion on matters which mainly affect just Scotland, and so were granted the luxury of deciding those issues for themselves; we have no such luxury in England.

Tom's original post was worded in a way that I think highlights one of the reasons why people generally dislike the idea of a United Kingdom in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland though - that arrogant assumption that England is this weary benefactor of three 'scrounging' nations... On the contrary, we have all been trying to establish ourselves as independent nations who are not reliant on the English to sustain ourselves. That's the point that it comes down to though - in Westminster, the three smaller nations do not get as much of a say yet were affected by nationwide decisions; now that there's been some form of devolution in all three (either through the assemblies or parliament in Scotland's case) that issue isn't as prominent. Therefore the reason the English don't have a separate Parliament, it seems to me, is because by creating one, it signals the end of the United Kingdom as such, and promotes the idea of four separate nations under one banner, and would probably lead to the dissolution of the UK.

Basically I see the lack of an English Parliament as the glue holding the UK together.