UKIP Policies : West Lothian & English Questions

According to the UK Independence Party website UKIP will try to achieve the following if they gain power at the 2010 general election:

We would retain national bodies but replace national representatives with Westminster MPs from that nation: The 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament would be replaced by the 55 Scots Westminster MPs, the 60 Welsh Assembly Members replaced by the 32 Welsh Westminster MPs, with similar arrangements over time in Northern Ireland with its 18 MPs to normalise UK affairs.

To be fair to England, the 545 English Westminster MPs would meet the same week a month in Westminster for English days in an English Parliament, debating English-only legislation. MPs would divide time between national Parliaments and Westminster for devolved or Union business.

The House of Commons would sit as National Parliaments for a small part of each month and the majority of time as a unified United Kingdom chamber. The issues arising from the lack of second chambers in the devolved bodies will be addressed by additional scrutiny by the House of Commons meeting as the UK Parliament, and by the House of Lords and Senators, where required.

Devolved powers would be amended to prevent any UK citizen being disadvantaged in another nation

within the UK all UK citizens should be entitled to equal treatment, such as over the provision of health and education, and public services, regardless of country of origin.

UKIP will substantially review devolved powers to move national parliaments/assemblies from a silo approach the Scottish NHS or Welsh transport for example now being run separately from the rest of the UK to a layered approach: where UK-wide strategic Government will be re-established or strengthened, to provide a UK-wide direction and framework, with national bodies managing delivery at the national level, with greater responsibility for all UK local councils, and the scrapping of regional institutions.

The Barnett funding Formula based on population would be replaced with a funding mechanism recognizing the extra costs of providing public services in more rural areas, rather than on a national basis, and urban and suburban basis, to iron out unfair treatments. This will ensure rural Cornwall and Northumbria are treated on a similar, fair basis to the Scottish Highlands, Welsh Beacons and Northern Ireland counties.

I would be interested to hear both positive and negative views on UK Independence Party’s West Lothian & English Questions policies in the comments below?