SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon launches the Scottish National Party manifesto at the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena
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The SNP would vote to introduce proportional representation for Westminster elections, Nicola Surgeon has confirmed.
The Scottish First Minister said that she supported electoral reform despite her party being set to do very well out of the current system.
“I believe strongly in proportional representation. I believe there should be a direct relationship between the percentage of votes a party wins and the percentage of seats they win in whatever parliament the election is for,” she said.
“The polls suggest that my party might do well under first past the post on Thursday but I think if you believe in something in principle you should believe in that regardless of whether your party benefits from the current system.
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“I support PR in principle, it’s in our manifesto, and the SNP would vote for it.”
Successive polls have shown the SNP set to secure over 50% of the vote in Scotland but some projections have seen the party set to take 100% of the country’s seats because of Westminster’s First Past the Post voting system.
Under a proportional system the SNP would likely see their number of MPs cut in half and more accurately reflect the votes cast north of the border.
With the SNP likely to hold the balance of power after the election the pledge could be important if electoral reform comes back onto the political agenda.
English votes for English laws: What is it all about?
Show all 7
English votes for English laws: What is it all about?
1/7 How would the Tories proposals work?
Under the proposals, before a Bill or parts of a Bill which relate only to England was put to a final vote in the Commons, MPs for English seats would meet in an "English Grand Committee" to decide on whether or not it should proceed, Mr Hague today told BBC1's Breakfast.
The committee stage, where the finer details of the bill and amendments are discussed, would also only be discussed by English MPs. The proposal however would still require a majority of all UK MPs to pass legislation. Mr Hague said: "That would really give English control over what is passed, but it would keep the United Kingdom Parliament together at the same time. "MPs from all parts of the UK would continue to debate, as they do now, anything they want. It is just that they would only be able to pass measures relating only to England with the agreement of the English MPs"
PA
2/7 So Scottish MPs would still be able to vote on matters which do not relate to their constituents?
Yes, but Mr Hague has insisted the plans would mean English MPs would have the "decisive" say. Asked whether former SNP leader Alex Salmond, who is hoping to win a Westminster seat at the upcoming election in May, would be able to vote on English legislation, the Commons Leader said: "He will be voting on it but the decisive votes will be cast by the English Members of Parliament"
3/7 Who would decide on what was an 'England-only' matter?
So far, Mr Hague has said it would probably be for the Speaker of the Commons to decide which measures should be treated as England-only, adding there would have to be "a mechanism" for making the decisions. He told the BBC: "Most of the recommendations from all the studies have said you would have to ask the Speaker of the House of Commons or some other impartial authority to certify when a piece of legislation or part of it is English or English and Welsh or United Kingdom. That's the system we would have to adopt"
PA
4/7 Why does Mr Hague want to introduce the proposal?
The Commons Leader is expected to argue that the reform is a "fundamental issue of fairness."
He will say: "How could it possibly be right for the Scottish Parliament, for example, to vote for a reduction in Air Passenger Duty in Scotland and then for Scottish MPs to come to Westminster and be able to impose an increase in Air Passenger Duty in England?
"You only have to think about this for a moment to see how fundamentally important this is and how such issues have to be addressed. Under our proposal this would not be possible without the agreement of English MPs.
"The English veto should be extended to taxation when the equivalent decisions have been devolved to Scotland - and under a Conservative Government it will be"
PA
5/7 Are we likely to see the proposals in place anytime soon?
Mr Hague wants to see the reforms debated in the Commons before the general election and has said the proposals will feature in the Conservative manifesto for the general election on 7 May.
He said the plans will be "a very high priority" for the Tories if they win an outright majority in the election
6/7 Is everybody happy with these proposals?
Not really. The proposals have fallen short of the English parliament demanded by some MPs, including Tory former Cabinet minister John Redwood, who told the Daily Mail that the plans need to be "strengthened" in order to win support from Conservative MPs. He said: "Scotland can do what it likes under its devolved powers – we are asking for the same." It is believed that some Conservative MPs believe only the more radical option of giving Scottish MPs no vote at all on English matters would meet promises made by Prime Minister David Cameron, who directly linked the English votes issue to the granting of new powers to Holyrood in his immediate response to the rejection of independence by the electorate in Scotland.
A Downing Street source has acknowledged there were "clearly different views" within the party but expected "very widespread support" for the chosen option
Getty Images
7/7 How is this likely to affect Labour?
While some Tory MPs may feel the powers do not go far enough, there is likely to be some cheer among Conservative ranks over the potential difficulties it could raise for any future Labour government, reliant on its own Scottish MPs, or the support of the SNP, for a Commons majority. Mr Hague has in fact pointed out the proposed changes would curtail the ability of a future government which did rely on Scottish MPs' votes for a Westminster majority to pass legislation on England-only matters, including health, education and transport.
He told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It would be able to get many things through that are United Kingdom matters, but when it came to England then it would have to have regard to the majority in England. That is a necessary corollary of greater devolution to Scotland and Wales"
1/7 How would the Tories proposals work?
Under the proposals, before a Bill or parts of a Bill which relate only to England was put to a final vote in the Commons, MPs for English seats would meet in an "English Grand Committee" to decide on whether or not it should proceed, Mr Hague today told BBC1's Breakfast.
The committee stage, where the finer details of the bill and amendments are discussed, would also only be discussed by English MPs. The proposal however would still require a majority of all UK MPs to pass legislation. Mr Hague said: "That would really give English control over what is passed, but it would keep the United Kingdom Parliament together at the same time. "MPs from all parts of the UK would continue to debate, as they do now, anything they want. It is just that they would only be able to pass measures relating only to England with the agreement of the English MPs"
PA
2/7 So Scottish MPs would still be able to vote on matters which do not relate to their constituents?
Yes, but Mr Hague has insisted the plans would mean English MPs would have the "decisive" say. Asked whether former SNP leader Alex Salmond, who is hoping to win a Westminster seat at the upcoming election in May, would be able to vote on English legislation, the Commons Leader said: "He will be voting on it but the decisive votes will be cast by the English Members of Parliament"
3/7 Who would decide on what was an 'England-only' matter?
So far, Mr Hague has said it would probably be for the Speaker of the Commons to decide which measures should be treated as England-only, adding there would have to be "a mechanism" for making the decisions. He told the BBC: "Most of the recommendations from all the studies have said you would have to ask the Speaker of the House of Commons or some other impartial authority to certify when a piece of legislation or part of it is English or English and Welsh or United Kingdom. That's the system we would have to adopt"
PA
4/7 Why does Mr Hague want to introduce the proposal?
The Commons Leader is expected to argue that the reform is a "fundamental issue of fairness."
He will say: "How could it possibly be right for the Scottish Parliament, for example, to vote for a reduction in Air Passenger Duty in Scotland and then for Scottish MPs to come to Westminster and be able to impose an increase in Air Passenger Duty in England?
"You only have to think about this for a moment to see how fundamentally important this is and how such issues have to be addressed. Under our proposal this would not be possible without the agreement of English MPs.
"The English veto should be extended to taxation when the equivalent decisions have been devolved to Scotland - and under a Conservative Government it will be"
PA
5/7 Are we likely to see the proposals in place anytime soon?
Mr Hague wants to see the reforms debated in the Commons before the general election and has said the proposals will feature in the Conservative manifesto for the general election on 7 May.
He said the plans will be "a very high priority" for the Tories if they win an outright majority in the election
6/7 Is everybody happy with these proposals?
Not really. The proposals have fallen short of the English parliament demanded by some MPs, including Tory former Cabinet minister John Redwood, who told the Daily Mail that the plans need to be "strengthened" in order to win support from Conservative MPs. He said: "Scotland can do what it likes under its devolved powers – we are asking for the same." It is believed that some Conservative MPs believe only the more radical option of giving Scottish MPs no vote at all on English matters would meet promises made by Prime Minister David Cameron, who directly linked the English votes issue to the granting of new powers to Holyrood in his immediate response to the rejection of independence by the electorate in Scotland.
A Downing Street source has acknowledged there were "clearly different views" within the party but expected "very widespread support" for the chosen option
Getty Images
7/7 How is this likely to affect Labour?
While some Tory MPs may feel the powers do not go far enough, there is likely to be some cheer among Conservative ranks over the potential difficulties it could raise for any future Labour government, reliant on its own Scottish MPs, or the support of the SNP, for a Commons majority. Mr Hague has in fact pointed out the proposed changes would curtail the ability of a future government which did rely on Scottish MPs' votes for a Westminster majority to pass legislation on England-only matters, including health, education and transport.
He told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It would be able to get many things through that are United Kingdom matters, but when it came to England then it would have to have regard to the majority in England. That is a necessary corollary of greater devolution to Scotland and Wales"
With polls showing Ukip set to take between 10% and 20% of the vote but only a handful of seats there could be renewed demand for a re-think of Britain’s voting system.
Ukip and the Green Party both support the introduction of proportional representation. The Liberal Democrats have also been longstanding proponents of reform.
The Conservatives are largely hostile to reform, as is Labour. Some Labour figures have personally come out in favour of PR however, including the shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna and former shadow chancellor Alan Johnson.
During his campaign for leader of the Labour party Ed Miliband said: “I’m not in favour of proportional representation for the House of Commons.”
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The Labour Party has pledged to hold a constitutional convention to consider reforms to Britain’s political system if it wins the general election.
In 2011 voters rejected a referendum to change First Past the Post to the Alternative Vote (AV) system. AV is not a proportional system and was criticised by longstanding proponents of reform.
Ms Sturgeon was speaking at the BBC Scottish leaders debate on Sunday night. Proportional representation is already used for Scottish local elections and Scottish Parliament elections.
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