Reform voters back block to Scots MPs as union grievance grows, report finds

Reform UK voters are the angriest in England and eight in 10 want Scottish MPs blocked from voting on English matters, a study has found.

New research published on St George's Day says Reform provides a focus for voters who identify chiefly as English, not British, amidst a growing grievance about the union.

Written by Professor Ailsa Henderson of the University of Edinburgh and Professor Richard Wyn Jones of Cardiff University, the paper - titled The Shameful Conquest of England - comes on the day that Scotland's First Minister John Swinney holds a cross-party summit about combatting the far right.

Swinney has described Reform as far-right and the Conservatives have declined to participate in the summit.

The report states: "The union’s largest member offers little of the enthusiastic gravity that might hope to keep the UK’s smaller nations in orbit. 

"Rather, among those English-identifiers, we found ambivalence towards the union as a project and a commonly held sense of grievance about the perceived cost and political influence of the other nations."

Researchers found 82 per cent of Reform supporters living in England say the current state of British politics makes them angry, with those backing the Green Party in second place at 76 per cent.

They identified "grievance within the union" as a major issue, with 77 per cent of Reform voters backing a rule-change in Westminster so that Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs cannot vote on laws applying in England.

The same was true of 69 per cent of Conservative voters and 55 per cent of Liberal Democrat supporters.

David Cameron brought in English Votes for English Laws (Evel) following the 2014 independence referendum.

Critics said it prevented MPs from having a say on decisions which affected the budgets of devolved legislatures through Barnett consequentials and it was abolished under Boris Johnson in 2021. 

Henderson and Jones said few English voters were ever aware of the rule and the Conservatives have "surrendered their hold on what was a potentially popular policy".

Almost two in three of all voters said they think this is the best model to legislate for England and it remains more popular than UK Labour’s preferred model of regionalising English governance, even among Labour voters.

Only 45 per cent of Reform voters and 42 per cent of Labour voters said it was a priority for them that the UK stays together.

This compares with 63 per cent for the Conservatives.

And while Scotland is still the country that most in England think gets ‘more than its fair share’ of economic resources, attitudes towards Wales and Northern Ireland were found to be "broadly similar".

The findings are based on a survey of 1500 adults in November.

Henderson commented: "Almost 10 years after the Brexit referendum and after electing a new government last year English politics is marked by continued grievance, frustration and anger rather than hope. Addressing the UK’s relationship with Europe remains a top priority, but it is former Remain voters or rejoiners who now list it as a top concern. Grievance with the union, and how England is governed, continues to suggest that the English feel their voice is not heard, and their culture and identity are not given the attention they deserve."