PM Cameron yesterday beat the nationalist drum for all he was worth in an attempt to win back the right wing vote that is assembling around UKIP.
He launched a special English Manifesto, for the last 12 days of the general election campaign.
The Tory leader promoted plans for ‘English votes for English laws’ to be in place for the first Budget of a Tory government.
Cameron pledged an ‘English rate of income tax’, although it will apply in Wales and Northern Ireland, once more powers are devolved to Scotland.
He claimed that ‘ending Westminster unfairness’ would strengthen the UK.
‘Today we launch our English Manifesto,’ Cameron declared in a speech in Lincoln.
He continued that the Tories are ‘the first major party ever to do this, the first to fully recognise that keeping our United Kingdom strong means a fair settlement for all four corners of these islands – Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and, yes, England.
‘Let me be clear: we do not support English nationalists, .we do not want an English Parliament.
‘We are the Conservative and Unionist Party through and through and through.
‘This manifesto simply recognises that the democratic picture has got more complicated in the UK.
‘So beyond our main manifesto, English voters deserve one document, clarifying in black and white what they can expect.’
He added: ‘And there is something else we will deliver: English votes for English laws.
‘For years those questions have been hanging in the air: If English MPs do not have the right to vote on health and education in Scotland – why should Scottish MPs have the right to determine what happens in English hospitals and schools?’
He continued: ‘The solution we are setting out today gives English MPs the decisive say on matters affecting England, while preserving an essential parity between all Members of Parliament. . . English votes for English laws is not about fragmenting the UK. . .
‘Because I want our United Kingdom to stick together to keep taking on the world together, and English votes for English laws is a vital part of that.’
