David Cameron's proposals for "English votes for English laws" would damage the union and require a lot further thought, according to Northern Ireland's First Minister.
Peter Robinson, who replaced Ian Paisley as Democratic Unionist leader and First Minister at Stormont in June, has warned that plans to exclude MPs representing Northern Irish, Welsh or Scottish seats from voting on matters pertaining to England would weaken rather than strengthen the Westminster parliament.
The proposals, from Ken Clarke's democracy taskforce for the Conservatives, aim to restore the apparent imbalance at Westminster by which Scottish MPs can vote on legislation that pertains only to England while Scottish health, education and transport policies are devolved to Holyrood.
Although his proposals are not binding, Mr Clarke recommended a compromise that would see Scottish MPs excluded from voting at the "committee stage" of a bill - when most in-depth amendments are discussed. MPs from all four parts of the UK could later vote to pass or reject the bill as a whole.
The Conservative answer to the West Lothian Question has already been attacked as a recipe "constitutional chaos" by Labour and Liberal Democrats.
In an online interview yesterday, the Democratic Unionist Party leader added his voice to the criticism. "This is a very complex issue and I'm not sure that I have heard any answer that is satisfactory thus far," said Mr Robinson.
"I can well understand that where we are at the present time is far from satisfactory for people from England, perhaps less from a Northern Ireland point of view and more from Scotland's point of view. If Scottish members can stop things happening in England that they enjoy in Scotland then that is a very unsatisfactory state of affairs.
"The answer is not in English-only votes and I think that a lot more thought has to go into it or else we will damage the Union.
"I don't think that is what either the Conservative Party or the Democratic Unionists want to see."
Despite Mr Robinson's difference of opinion with Cameron over the issue he also said that the DUP would "lean" towards the Tories in the event of a hung parliament.
Asked what his party would do if they held the balance of power in Westminster, Robinson said: "We will do what anybody would expect a mature political party to do.
"We will look at what is in the interests of the United Kingdom as a whole, we will look at what is in the interests of Northern Ireland and we will make a decision based on that and that alone."
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