The following press release was supposed to be made public tomorrow but the Scotsman and Herald newspapers both released it early so here it is:

PRESS RELEASE: 17 OCTOBER 2006
EMBARGOED: 05:00 24 OCTOBER 2006

SCOTTISH CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION CHAIRMAN TO CALL FOR A “STRONG ENGLISH PARLIAMENT” AT INAUGURAL MEETING OF PATRONS OF THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

“I have become convinced that England has a growing sense of national identity as strong as ours, and therefore that an English Parliament, if the people want it, is as much your right as we claimed it to be ours.”

Canon Dr Kenyon Wright, CBE, the former Chair of the Scottish Constitutional Convention that paved the way for devolution in Scotland, will call for a `strong English Parliament’ to be established, `alongside the Scottish Parliament and a strengthened Welsh legislature – all equal parts of a reformed and healthier UK’, when he addresses the inaugural meeting of the Patrons of the English Constitutional Convention at 4pm on Tuesday October 24, 2006, in the Strangers’ Dining Room, House of Commons, Westminster. The English Constitutional Convention has been established jointly by the English Democrats Party and the Campaign for an English Parliament.

Canon Wright, formerly an active campaigner for the regionalisation of England, will declare that he now believes only the establishment of a Parliament for England will answer “the so-called West Lothian Question”. He will describe the current constitutional settlement as “undemocratic nonsense” and argue that simply banning Scottish MPs from voting in the Commons on English legislation will “create more problems than it solves”.

Canon Wright will say: ” Two things have changed my personal view. First, it is now clear after the North East Referendum, that regional government is a non-starter in the foreseeable future, and we cannot wait for further change. Second, I have become convinced that England has a growing sense of national identity as strong as ours, and therefore that an English Parliament, if the people want it, is as much your right as we claimed it to be ours. Could the `Claim of Right for Scotland’ with which we began our work be followed now by a `Claim of Right for England’?”

Canon Wright will also state that, “the initiative must come from the people, not just the official political structures. In this context I commend to you the recent Report of the POWER Inquiry (chaired by Helena Kennedy). It brings out the growing disengagement with formal politics, and makes 30 important recommendations for change. It concludes with this statement: `An alliance for change needs to be built amongst the most clear sighted (politicians) but only a sustained campaign for change from OUTSIDE the democratic assemblies and parliaments of the UK will ensure that meaningful reform occurs. We, the people, have to stake our claim on power.’ That is what the Scottish Convention did. I believe it is what you will do.”

At the meeting Mark Gill, Head of Political Research at MORI, will also set out the results of a recent opinion poll that indicates 41 per cent of voters support `England as a whole to have it own national Parliament with similar law-making powers to the Scottish Parliament’.

Robin Tilbrook