Scotland?s exit from the United Kingdom may have been narrowly avoided on the promise that the Scottish Parliament would get greater powers of governance?loosely called devolution maximum or devo max?but UK lawmakers still have to deal with an issue lingering since the late-1970s. The West Lothian question, named after the constituency of an MP who brought the issue to Westminster?s notice, presents a logical flaw with the devolution of powers: While the Scottish Parliament will get greater say on policies specific to Scotland with devo max, policies for England, the largest chunk of the Union, will continue to be set by the UK Parliament, which includes Scottish, North Irish and Welsh members, as there is no English Parliament. (Wales and Northern Ireland have their own Parliaments, though these are not as powerful as the Scottish one.)
It has been suggested that Scottish MPs, after devo max, be debarred from voting on devolved issues, say, revenue or housing. But this creates another catch 22-like situation?what if the government?s majority rests on Scottish MPs. This would mean that England?s governance would rest majorly on consensus between the ruling party and the Opposition, which would not be an easy thing in even the best of times. Another alternative proposed is going for a fully federated structure, with England getting its own Parliament with its own set of devolved powers. But given it hosts 85% of the population of the UK, this kind of federalism leaves the central government severely undermined. It is this bind that the lawmakers at Westminster must break before actually proceeding with devo max.
