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Devolution has brought about major constitutional changes within the United Kingdom. Scotland now has its own parliament, Wales its own assembly. The Scottish Parliament hasn’t just given Scotland legislative powers independent of England in such major matters of governance as education, health, transport, law, planning and many more but has established Scotland constitutionally and politically as a distinct country and the Scots as a distinct nation within the UK. The Welsh Assembly has done precisely the same for Wales and the Welsh people. Prior to devolution 1998, constitutionally and politically, there was only one UK nation -the British nation. Devolution has radically changed all that.

Devolution however has not been extended to England and the English people at all. England has neither a parliament nor an assembly. Constitutionally and politically it still does not exist because, by the express and explicit intent of the UK government, it is being denied any national political institution of any sort to make the statement that the people of England are a distinct nation. Unlike the Scots and the Welsh the English people have no forum of any kind where they can discuss and decide issues which affect them as the people of England and consider them in an English context -be it English culture with its ancient historical roots and in all its immense diversity and vitality, education in England, the English environment, the health needs of England and all such matters. The denial of such a national forum amounts to direct political discrimination. This discrimination and disadvantage is made much worse in two ways.

Firstly, the Scots through their Members of the UK Parliament can legislate for England in every possible area of law and governance whereas no English MP can participate in the making of any legislation in matters reserved to the Scottish Parliament. For example, Scottish MPs can both initiate and vote on Acts of Parliament concerning education and the NHS in England. No English MP has any voice at all in such matters as they affect Scotland. It is a grotesque injustice.

Secondly, instead of granting devolution to England in any form at all such as a parliament, the UK government now intends to dismember and partition England into regions with regional assemblies. In this way the UK government intends to abolish England as a national entity. It re-established the distinct constitutional existence, identity and unity of the Scots and the Welsh; it intends to deny this to the English People. (source: thecep.org.uk)