Why Brown should not be PM
Touching on Stuart Parr's letter, a few years ago the idea that Gordon Brown should not become Prime Minister would have not even been worth comment. No one except the most radical English nationalist would have even questioned a Scottish or Welsh politician's right to be the first minister.
Unfortunately that is no longer the case. There are now very sound constitutional reasons why someone elected to a Scottish, or to a lesser degree Welsh constituency, is not a suitable candidate to hold this post.
Gordon's passion was to create a separate Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly with the intention of giving the people of Scotland and Wales more control over their own affairs.
Unlike the Scots and the Welsh the distinct nationhood of the English people has received no political or constitutional recognition.
Scotland is now independent and has full self-government in most major areas of public policy.
Westminster MPs are excluded from any involvement in legislation for both countries in devolved areas.
This negates the most basic principle of parliamentary democracy - that MPs must be accountable to their electorate.
An MP representing a Scottish constituency can and does affect the policies of England where they have no representation.
This is a constitutional mayhem. It is unbalanced and unfair to the voters of England, who see laws passed in their parliament by ministers and MPs they do not elect and who have no mandate to represent them.
Unfortunately, the Lord Chancellor just happens to be the unelected Lord Falconer, Scottish friend of Tony Blair and major campaigner for the Scottish Parliament.
Ken Adams, Llanfair Waterdine, Nr Knighton
