Harriett Baldwin's Private Members Bill returns to the floor of the House of Commons tomorow (Friday September 9) but it has already achieved real progress as the Government announces the establishment of the West Lothian Commission today. The MP has proposed a bill which seeks to address the controversial West Lothian Question regarding the voting rights of MPs in each of the four nations of the United Kingdom. The bill – titled the Legislation (Territorial Extent) Bill – will be further debated on the floor of the Commons on Friday. The bill proposes that each piece of draft legislation prepared by Government identifies which geographical area it refers to and its financial effect, if any. The bill passed through its committee stage without amendment but minutes before the final deadline for report stage amendments, Labour front-bencher Helen Goodman has tabled a flurry of amendments widening and deepening the Bill’s impact. Harriett commented: “This Bill seeks to start the important debate about how Westminster deals with English-only legislation now that more powers have devolved to the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament. “This simple piece of legislation will clarify the impact of every bill passing through parliament and it is a small step on the way towards solving the so-called West Lothian Question. “I am a passionate unionist but I feel this is an issue that needs resolving before the next election. We can’t have a situation where a future government relies on a majority of Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish votes to change controversial legislation like tuition fees for England. Although the coalition agreement calls for the establishment of the West Lothian commission, it has taken my bill to get movement on this. “Many of my colleagues are keen to see this issue debated and I look forward to hearing many views on Friday.”