Scotland has its own parliament, Wales has its own assembly. So should England have its own separate parliament as well? Political Editor Jonathan Walker looks at the issue while two experts argue the case for and against home rule...

England is the country that does not exist.

We rarely mention its name. There is no mention of it in the national anthem. Great civic buildings are often adorned with flags, but not the Cross of St George.

We do not make our own laws, elect our own Government, or have our own monarchy.

And English schoolchildren are unlikely to learn about the achievements of their country at school.

Instead, we are British. We sing the British national anthem, fly the British flag, and learn about Great Britons such as Churchill or Shakespeare.

It was not always like this. England was a separate and distinct country until 1707, when the Act of Union completed the process of making us one with Scotland.

But somehow, the Act did not have quite the same effect on the other parts of the United Kingdom.

Scotland is still very much Scotland. It flies its own flag. Scots have every right to sing God Save the Queen ? the British National Anthem ? but choose instead to belt out Scotland the Brave.

The Welsh sing Land of my Fathers ? and this means Wales. When people talk about fish and chips etc they usually use the word British. But mention bagpipes or kilts and the word they use is Scottish. Fine singing voices and a passion for rugby are a Welsh trait.

These may be crude cultural stereotypes, but the point is that we have some idea what Wales and Scotland are about.

Of course, we did it to ourselves. And it has not seemed to matter ? until now.

The question of English identity has been put back on the agenda by devolution in Scotland and Wales.

The Scots have their own parliament, and decide their own policies on issues such as education and health.

English MPs, sitting in the UK Parliament in London, are not even allowed to talk about a hospital in West Lothian.

By contrast, Scottish MPs are free to discuss the fate of hospitals in West Bromwich.

And when Labour introduced its controversial Foundation Hospitals policy ? which only applied to England ? Scottish MPs pushed it through the Commons. A majority of English MPs actually voted against it.

What?s more, the Scots actually have more MPs than they should. The average size of an English constituency is 70,000 people, while in Scotland it is 53,000.

That will change after 2007, when Scottish MPs at Westminster will be cut from 72 to 59. But this is not enough for some campaigners. They argue that England should have the same rights as Scotland or Wales ? and have a parliament of its own.

The UK Parliament could still meet at the UK capital, London, to discuss issues affecting the entire United Kingdom.

But an English parliament should make decisions about English schools and hospitals, meeting at a major English city such as Birmingham or Manchester. Some fear that this could lead to the break-up of the UK altogether.

And supporters of English devolution offer a different solution to the problem.

They point out that the West Midlands alone, with 5.2 million people, has a larger population than Scotland, where the population is 5.06 million and falling.

Instead of an English parliament it would make more sense to have our own regional assembly here in the West Midlands, they say.

Should England have her own parliament? Read the arguments for:

And against: