ENGLISH nationalism is on the rise as tensions intensify between London and Edinburgh over potential Scottish independence, a new opinion poll suggests.

Researchers found almost four out of five English people want to strip Scottish MPs of the right to vote on English issues.

If similar changes were extended to Welsh and Northern Irish politicians, it could eventually lead to a form of English parliament within Westminster.

The findings raise the pressure on the Coalition Government ahead of the launch of a controversial commission on the so-called West Lothian Question – first posed by Tam Dalyell, former MP for the area – this week.

The researchers warn English voters appear "increasingly restive" and that their mood is underestimated at our peril.

They also called for a debate on a new constitutional settlement for England.

The survey for the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and Cardiff and Edinburgh Universities by YouGov found 79% backed banning Scottish MPs from voting on English-only issues, a significant increase on previous polls.

A total of 53% "strongly agreed" that Scottish MPs should not vote on England-only policies doubled the figure in 2007 . Only 12% disagreed. A similar survey in 2007 found 61% backed restricting Scottish MPs' votes.

The findings follow two opinion polls showing the English more in favour of Scottish independence than the Scots.

The Government will launch its Commission into the West Lothian Question this week.

The body has been condemned by Labour, which warns it could mean two tiers of MP and is a sop to Tory backbenchers.

The IPPR think tank warned English public anger was at such a height that the Commission would not be enough.

The potential for Scottish independence or "devo-max" means a wider debate is needed on the union, and England's position within it, the think tank argues.

IPPR Associate Director Guy Lodge said: "A narrow focus on the West Lothian question will not be sufficient to satisfy English public opinion.

"A strengthening of English identity, combined with growing interest in how England is governed, pose an important challenge for the centre-left in particular, which has so far failed to engage with these important developments in England.

"The time has come for a much wider public debate about what form a new constitutional settlement for England should take."

Cardiff University professor of politics Richard Wyn Jones, a co-author of the report, said the commission would not be a serious attempt to answer the West Lothian Question, but he warned English public opinion would not stand for inaction.

He said: "If the intention is to kick the issue into the long grass, this is to reckon without an English electorate that appears increasingly restive and increasingly convinced that the anomalies created by the current devolution arrangements need to be addressed."

He added: "We underestimate the current mood of the English electorate at our peril. In the 1980s the perceived unfairness of a system which allowed left-leaning Scotland and Wales to be governed by a party without a mandate in those countries led to an unstoppable head of steam leading directly to the devolution reforms of the late 1990s.

"It is not hard to imagine how a different set of territorial anomalies could create a similar response in England. Indeed, it might already be happening."

YouGov interviewed 1507 adults between July 27 and August 2, 2011.

An ICM survey for The Sunday Telegraph published yesterday found 40% of Scots and 43% of English voters supported independence. A Survation poll in the Mail on Sunday found 26% of voters in Scotland want to break up the Union, compared to 29% in England and Wales.