On January 22, the Lords questioned a Lib Dem Scottish Minister, Lord Wallace of Tankerness, after he had made a statement about the government’s latest devolution proposals for Scotland.
During the course of the exchanges, Lord Wallace asserted that Gladstone had supported devolution for all four parts of the country, a policy known as home rule all round. Alistair Lexden pointed out ‘that was not his plan’; he was interested only in Ireland. Home rule all round was the ‘brainchild of the great unionist, Joe Chamberlain’.
Lord Lexden also said: ‘Is it not obvious that today’s proposals are bound to increase the demand for English votes for English laws (EVEL), on which the Government have produced no firm proposals at all?’ Last month the government published a White Paper, The Implications of Devolution for England. It set out a series of options. The longer firm decisions are postponed, the greater the strain on the already weakened Union between the constituent parts of our country.