Debate on 'English votes for English laws' set to erupt with Chris Grayling speech

The House of Commons is expected to erupt in a row over the government's controversial "English votes for English laws" (Evel) plan on 2 July.

Cabinet minister Chris Grayling is expected to confirm to MPs that a committee of English MPs will have a veto on draft legislation affecting the nation.

The move, if passed through, would mean Scottish MPs would not be included in the veto stage, a proposal that has enraged the SNP.

Angus Robertson MP, the leader of the nationalists in Westminster, said: "The ramifications of Evel would be far-reaching – an issue with such magnitude must be properly considered, scrutinised and debated.

"We face the prospect of MPs being barred from specific votes, hindering our rights to represent our constituents properly.

"Restricting the voting rights of some MPs could be the single biggest change to the rights of MPs in decades –and doing so without following the appropriate parliamentary procedure is totally unacceptable."

But the Tories have argued the shift would make the voting process in parliament "fairer" because of the amount of devolution granted to the Scottish Parliament.

David Cameron defended the move a Prime Minister's Question (PMQs) on 1 July after being challenged by Robertson on the issue.

"English MPs are entirely excluded from any discussion of Scottish health or Scottish housing or Scottish education," the Tory leader protested.

"What we are proposing is actually a very measured and sensible step, which says that when there's only a bill that affects England, for instance, the committee stage should be of English MPs but then the whole house will vote at report stage and indeed at third reading stage.

"What this is going to introduce, as it were, is a system for making sure that the wishes of English MPs cannot be overruled."

He added: "I think that's only fair in system when the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Parliament and the Northern Ireland Parliament have increased powers."

The debate around the controversial move is expected to hot up. The Evel measure could be enacted before summer, "senior government sources" told The Telegraph.