Hilary Benn MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said:

“Labour will take forward the McKay proposal of an English or English and Welsh only Committee stage. Done in the right way, we believe this is a sensible reform. Labour’s people-led Constitutional Convention will consider this as part of a wider package of reforms after May’s General Election.

“But there’s no hiding the fact that what William Hague has come forward with today is not what his backbenchers were expecting. David Cameron has played fast and loose with the future of the United Kingdom ever since his speech just minutes after the referendum result. As the party of the Union, only Labour will devolve real power and resources from Whitehall to all parts of England and only a Labour Government will be in a position to deliver the change we need for the whole of the United Kingdom.”

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