Devolution extension - England (30)

	For	Against
Para 1	- Devolution has brought democracy closer to the people- Decisions about local services and economies are made closer to the people. Eg. The Scotland Act 1998, which established the Scottish Parliament and executive, devolved a number of primary legislative powers from Westminster to Scotland. These included local government, housing, environment, law and order, education and health.- Policy divergence between the regions.	- Devolution has dramatically increased the desire for Scottish Independence- Eg. The referendum in 2014 did not resolve any issues despite a 55%-45% vote in favour of remaining in the union.- Further exacerbated in the EU referendum by the difference in regional votes.

Para 2	- Devolved assemblies are very popular- No main parties suggest that devolution should be overturned.- Since legislation in 2016 and 2017, devolved assemblies in Scotland and Wales could only be overturned by a referendum.	There is little public appetite for an English Parliament, demonstrated by a strong no vote for a proposed North East AssemblyIy an English Parliament was introduced, the role and significance of the UK Parliament would be much reduced, leading to questions over the location of sovereignty
Para 3	- It would further address the problem of over-centralisation of power in the UK Parliament- Eg. there are strong regional identities in areas such as Cornwall, which may be well-served by having power devolved to them	Power may end up being too fragmented- May leading to possible differences in legislation in different areas and confusion over how laws differ in the different UK regions- Giving regional governments more powers may actually accelerate demands for independence- if these regions are effectively controlling all of their legislation, they may wish to become formally separate to reflect this.