Answering the English Question

Abstract

Whenever devolution within the United Kingdom has been proposed, the ‘English Question’ has always emerged as its inevitable corollary. If there is greater home rule for the rest of the United Kingdom, so the argument goes, should a similar ‘solution’ not also apply to, or within, England? Should England as a whole have its own institutionalised political voice or, alternatively, should it be divided into devolved units of government? Since 1998, England has been the gaping hole in a devolution settlement that has still affected only 15 per cent of the UK population (or just over a quarter if the strengthening of citywide governance for London is deemed a devolutionary measure). Until recently, the English barely seemed to care but that may be starting to change. In the face of recent evidence that the people of Scotland and Wales have an appetite for more nationalist governments and further autonomy, there is a growing perception that the English may be ‘losing out’. Clear answers to the English Question, however, seem as far away as ever; not least because of the bewildering array of ostensible solutions on offer.