English Democrats: Robin Tilbrook on new Parliament

English Democrat Party leader Robin Tilbook climbs on the Daily Politics Soapbox to explain why he campaigns for England to have to have its own Parliament.

Back in 1998, Labour began the process of devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Now the only part of the United Kingdom that does not have its own voice is England.

Opinion polling now shows that the English are becoming more consciously English, and that overwhelmingly they want to see an all-England solution to the current unfairness of devolution.

I say that means an English Parliament.

Colchester's City Wall - legend has it - is the very spot where a civil war cannon known as Humpty Dumpty had its great fall.

The government has now set up a modern Humpty Dumpty, in the shape of a West Lothian Question Commission.

The coalition intends that it will put forward a version of English Votes for English Laws.

But this proposal is an unworkable damp squib which is heading for a fall - and then all the King's horses and all the King's men won't be able to put it together again, no matter how hard they try.

The fall of English Votes for English Laws would leave the only workable constitutional options for England as either an English Parliament and government within a federal UK, or independence for England.

If the unionist Establishment does not soon respond to the growing English resentment then the window of opportunity for a federal UK will close, and then the only remaining option will be English independence.

This will leave the UK as dead as the die-hard royalist officers who were shot on this spot in 1648 by a firing squad of English Parliamentarians.

Colchester also has a claim to be the fabled Camelot of King Arthur and may have been where his original round table was.

I say that England now needs a real round table around which to build a consensus on England's constitutional future - just like the Scots did with their Scottish Constitutional Convention.

The key to that convention was the "Scottish Claim of Right" which acknowledged the "Sovereign Will of the Scottish People".

I agree with that principle but we need to apply it to England. The People of England are Sovereign to any English Democrat.

Mr Tilbrook debated his ideas on Wednesday's Daily Politics with MPs Michael Dugher and Jeremy Browne. The programme can be seen for seven days (UK viewers only)on iPlayer.