Cameron ‘not being straight’ on reforms

David Cameron is "not being straight with the British people" over the cost and complexity of constitutional reform, Ed Balls said.

The shadow chancellor accused the prime minister of talking “complete nonsense” over his demands that Scottish MPs be quickly stripped of the right to vote on laws affecting only England.

He said rushed reforms risked “undermining the union we have all just fought to save”.

Cameron’s move to link the change to the cross-party timetable agreed for new powers for Holyrood in the wake of Scotland’s rejection of independence in last week’s referendum has angered Labour and dominated the start of its annual conference in Manchester.

Cameron announced within hours of the no vote that the process for looking at the so-called West Lothian question would proceed at the same pace as the settlement for Scotland — putting pressure on Labour to agree to the move.

Labour leader Ed Miliband has backed greater “scrutiny” of England-only legislation by English MPs but stopped short of a pledge on votes, arguing that a major constitutional change should not be drawn up in a rushed “back of the envelope” way.

He is calling instead for a Constitutional Convention to be held. Labour, with 40 of Scotland’s 59 MPs, has most to lose from any measures which would restrict the voting rights of MPs representing constituencies north of the border.

Cameron gathered MPs at his official country retreat to consider his proposals, with some senior figures in his party urging him to go further and introduce a separate English parliament.

Balls said: “Are we really going to start dividing our parliament in this way?

“I don’t think it’s the best way at all to deliver the fairness we need to see. I want more devolution in England, I want a fair deal for my constituents.

“We should start by listening to people, rather than William Hague deciding it in a cabinet committee.

“But David Cameron, giving the impression that he can do it in a couple of months, I think he is not being straight with the British people and we are not going to play those kinds of games.

“There is no easy solution to that and we are not just going to come along with something which is half-baked. It can’t be decided by Conservative cabinet ministers.”

He went on: “That is a complete nonsense from a prime minister, David Cameron, who is desperately trying to hold his fractured party together. It is a rubbish thing to say.

“We can go ahead and we can put in place the changes for Scotland on a timetable we have agreed and we can make sure then, at the same time but over the next two years, we consult properly to make big changes to our constitution for the future.