An English parliament is a terrible idea

It’s Saint George’s Day, which means it’s that time of year when Unionists must once again don their armour, saddle their horses, and ride out to slay that most terrible of dragons: an English parliament.

This proposal rears its head every so often as a possible solution to the increasingly undeniable strain that two decades of devolution has put on the constitution of the United Kingdom. It is in fact one of the surest means of guaranteeing the dissolution of the Union.

Unfortunately, the reasons for this are pretty much exactly the same reasons that the creation of the other devolved legislatures was a bad idea. That means that there is some political danger in accepting its logic. Instead, calls for an English parliament tend to get woven into the increasingly elaborate schema of magical thinking required to believe, in 2021, that devolution to national legislatures is good for Britain.

The fundamental problem with devolution is that it creates a class of people whose interests are aligned against those of the rest of the United Kingdom

So let’s take this opportunity to remind ourselves why the very last thing a Unionist government should do is set up such an institution.