SENIOR Labour figures regret failing to prevent David Cameron from launching a move for "English votes for English laws" while the Prime Minister was still panicking over Scottish independence.
Labour was blindsided by the Conservative leader's announcement that he planned to limit the voting rights of Scottish MPs.
Sadiq Khan, Labour's Justice Secretary, accused the Prime Minister of a "stitch-up" yesterday.
The Conservative leader had indulged in "petty" politics for political advantage, he said, as he pressed Mr Cameron to sign up to Labour's idea of a UK- wide constitutional convention, which would look at English votes alongside a host of other issues.
But another Labour frontbencher said the party should have seen Mr Cameron's move coming. He said: "With hindsight we should have tied David Cameron down last Tuesday.
"We should have made sure that 'the vow' (on extra powers for Scotland) also contained a pledge on a constitutional convention, a UK-wide constitutional convention. So he could not just make the 'English votes for English laws' announcement on Friday."
He added: "We gave the referendum campaign everything and we were spent. They (the Conservatives south of the Border) had not - they had the energy to sit back and think about where it all went after the result."
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