NICOLA Sturgeon last night demanded meetings with the Scottish Secretary and the Leader of the Commons over "unacceptable" Tory plans to create English vote for English laws (Evel).

Tom Gordon

Scottish Political Editor

NICOLA Sturgeon last night demanded meetings with the Scottish Secretary and the Leader of the Commons over "unacceptable" Tory plans to create English vote for English laws (Evel).

The First Minister warned the current plans took an overly narrow view of 'English-only' laws, focusing purely on their legal reach, and ignoring knock-on effects on budgets and policy.

In a letter to Scottish Secretary David Mundell, she cited a UK government list of 20 Bills it considered were English-only in the last parliament, and claimed 13 of them, or 65 per cent, had a tangible impact on Scotland.

Seven of the 13 Bills even required Holyrood to give its explicit consent to Westminster to legislate on its behalf, because devolved issues were directly involved.

The First Minister's intervention comes after the UK government was forced into a humiliating retreat on Evel after concerted opposition from the SNP, Labour, LibDems, and a threatened revolt by Tory backenchers and the Democratic Unionist party (DUP).

After a meeting with David Cameron on Thursday, Chris Grayling, the Tory Leader of the House of Commons, was forced to delay a vote on the issue due next week until September.

Many MPs are deeply unhappy at the government's plan to introduce Evel using the shortcut of a change to parliamentary rules, rather than fully scrutinised and debated legislation.

Many also fear Evel means a two-tier parliament, ending the tradition that all MPs are equal.

Under the Evel proposals, which are meant to rebalance devolution, MPs in English seats would have a veto over any Bill certified as English-only by the Speaker of the Commons.

If they approve the Bill, a majority of all MPs will then be needed for it to become law.

But the definition of 'English-only' is deeply contentious.

A key criteria is that a clause in a Bill would be English only (or English and Wales only) if it related to an area which was already devolved to Scotland.

However in her letter to Mundell, Sturgeon said that was a "technical assessment" about the strict legal extent of legislation, and failed to take into account wider practical impacts, such as changes to the Barnett formula which could affect Scotland's budget.

"This narrowness is a significant concern to me," she said.

She asked for greater clarity as there was a "clear Scottish interest" involved, and called for a meeting between her deputy, John Swinney, and Mundell and Grayling.

"The proposals, as they currently stand, are unacceptable," Sturgeon wrote.

"The core... involves an assessment of what is within Scotland's devolved competence. This is a technical assessment where the determining factor is whether any provision of a Bill legally extends to Scotland. There is no mention of factoring into that decision any wider considerations of Bills that do not legally extend to Scotland, but could have an impact because, for example, of Barnett consequentials arising from funding changes.

"I also have concerns about how the Speaker makes his assessment; where he gets advice from, whether the UK Government has any influence on his assessment and, if so, whether the Scottish Government or Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament should have a role.

"The Speaker's assessment is limited to the legal extent, and not to the wider policy and financial implications of the Bill. This narrowness is a significant concern for me."

She continued: "Of the 20 Bills listed by the UK Government as not extending to Scotland, no fewer than 13 of them did. Several covered important areas such as charities, criminal justice and anti-slavery measures and had significant impacts on Scotland, over and above the Barnett implications that might flow from legislation."

A UK Government spokesman said: "Parliament will debate modified standing orders this week and the Government will consider all the points that are made before proceeding.

"With increased devolution across the UK it is fair that English MPs have a greater say over laws that will only apply to England. This is a constructive contribution from the First Minister and we welcome her change of tone on this issue. The Secretary of State will continue to engage with the Scottish Government as these important changes are taken forward."