A British Prime Minister ‘pledged to make the interests of the Scottish people paramount’.
CEP Press Statement:
Once again, Gordon Brown, a man who was a key participant in the Scottish Constitutional Convention and signed the Claim of Rights for Scotland in 1989 which put Scottish interests before the rest of the UK, has effectively denied the people of England their right of a collective voice. He has dismissed England’s right to its own Parliament and promoted the break-up (regionalisation) of England. During a Blair-ite Progress meeting last week in London, he arrogantly and incorrectly dismissed the level of demand for an English parliament and stated:-
“…the English do not want a parliament of their own. If they wanted it, that would be an issue, but there is no evidence that there is a desire for an English parliament. We have got to recognise the asymmetric nature of the British constitution, find a way of accommodating the ambitions of all the different nations – and indeed the regions.”
Eddie Bone, Campaign Director for the Campaign for an English Parliament stated:
“It won’t be long now and the English can tell Gordon Brown to get lost. I cannot wait for Gordon Brown, an unaccountable Scottish MP at Westminster, to be made redundant, particularly as he signed the Scottish Claim of Rights that puts Scottish interests first over the rest of the UK’s interests. He should not be allowed to become involved in English only affairs anymore. The time has come when Gordon Brown should be stopped from making unfounded and inaccurate statements about what England wants and the Campaign for an English Parliament has written to him demanding an apology. He has clearly ignored the latest research showing a growing demand for an English Parliament”.
“The people of England have put up with unaccountable Scottish Labour MPs trying to break England into regionalised areas for far too long. There is overwhelming support for an English Parliament in England and Gordon’s out dated agenda of English regions has no democratic support in England at all. Gordon Brown should refrain from discussing the internal affairs of England – he does not have a direct relationship with the people of England as his constituency is in Scotland not England. How England is governed has nothing whatsoever to do with him and he would be well advised to take heed of these words – keep your nose out of English affairs!”
Eddie Bone,
Campaign Director,
Campaign for an English Parliament,
mob 07980667732
Post Script (by Alan England):
Brown’s arrogant and hypocritical presumption in prescribing for the English is not only ignorant but inaccurate. Hypocritical because he denies the English that which he demands for Scots: national identity. Arrogant because it is none of his business. Hypocritical because he was a prominent member of a British government which in 1997 gave a second referendum to the Welsh despite concrete evidence supplied an earlier referendum in 1979 that THEY did not want a parliament of their own. Then, 79.7% of a turnout of 58.8% rejected a Welsh Assembly.
Moreover, Brown’s claims that “…the English do not want a parliament of their own” and “there is no evidence that there is a desire for an English parliament.” take no account of various opinion polls which have indicated support for an English Parliament of up to 69% and which contradict his anti-English prejudice.
Eddie Bone, Campaign Director, Campaign for an English Parliament