tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2069212153482249376.post1998596623105710956..comments2023-07-16T11:22:14.708+01:00Comments on Gareth Hughes: The Question?Gareth Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14811374617896851568noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2069212153482249376.post-58309555007508250612011-04-09T18:11:41.105+01:002011-04-09T18:11:41.105+01:00I have no real problem with the principle of asyem...I have no real problem with the principle of asyemetric devolution given the very different politics in the four entities. But I should like to see the UK Parliament call the separatists bluff by legislating that in the event of a referendum on secession being held in any of the other constituent parts of the UK it would be paralelled by a referendum on whether England itself should quit the Union.<br /><br />I detect little real political pressure for an English Parliament and EVEL is probably unworkable in practice. It is quite obvious that if there really was a heartfelt popular desire for English devolution, as there was in Scotland in the early nineties, it would happen. The fact is that political parties that fail to pay attention to English opinion are unlikely ever to get their hands on government. There is no 'English problem' unless or until the people of England decide that there is an injustice and demand that it be addressed - at which point the major parties will be compelled to address the issue or kiss goodbye to their ambitions to govern.Democritushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06749137742833103823noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2069212153482249376.post-31078951433995877172011-04-09T17:11:07.238+01:002011-04-09T17:11:07.238+01:00It seems it is very easy for all the above comment...It seems it is very easy for all the above commentators to forget that 'part of England' namely the Celtic nation and Duchy of Cornwall has expressed a desire for devolution and a Cornish assembly. We gathered a petition of 50,000 signatures in one summer calling for a referendum on a Cornish assembly after opinion polls in the Duchy put support at over 55%. New Labour (along with many 'friends' in Wales and Scotland) simply ignored it.cornubianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13985409305363332274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2069212153482249376.post-71682671481966133652011-02-10T07:30:42.388+00:002011-02-10T07:30:42.388+00:00And should Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs ...And should Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs be barred from most Government (and Cabinet) jobs because most portfolios are English-only or English-mainly?Garethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10021800974251370747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2069212153482249376.post-51732430478734043042011-02-05T22:36:08.387+00:002011-02-05T22:36:08.387+00:00The corollary to the West Lothian question in thes...The corollary to the West Lothian question in these days of Devolution is why should UK Ministers (education, health, etc) whose portfolios only affect England sit in the UK cabinet, participating in decisions that affect all of us? <br /><br />By the way - I know that the same applies to our Secretaries of state as well, but after March - given a YES vote - it is questionable whether we need on anyway!Siônnynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00021974709953206048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2069212153482249376.post-53963977162983017522011-02-05T19:50:11.360+00:002011-02-05T19:50:11.360+00:00Well, most of the comments feel that England is ha...Well, most of the comments feel that England is hard done by, a view that I don't personally share. However, I have no problem with there being an English Parliament within a Federal or even Confederal system of government on these Islands. Then all the countries could have real home rule.Gareth Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14811374617896851568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2069212153482249376.post-38741151343645256332011-02-03T14:37:50.852+00:002011-02-03T14:37:50.852+00:00Yes you are right, the UK Government does hold all...Yes you are right, the UK Government does hold all the purse strings and it decides that England should receive at least £1,000 per head less than elsewhere in the UK. It has also decided that the bulk of the coming cuts should be in England, hence English students and nowhere else will lose their EMA and be deterred from university by the thought of crippling debts. Tuition fees were forced on England in the first place by Scottish Labour MPs who wouldn't countenance them for their own. There are no 'English' MPs standing up for England against this discrimination, only MPs elected by the English but who put the UK before England, whereas Scotland, Wales & NI MPs stand up for their constituents only. Why should the English not expect the same? To say that 117 Scottish, Welsh and NI MPs are dwarfed is not the point, they should not be allowed to vote on leglislation which does not affect their constituents. England had to suffer a Scottish PM who had pledged to put Scotland first. This argument has gone well beyond the West Lothian Question, England needs it's own parliament but of course as we have no MPs to represent England's interests, no-one is listening.JoolsBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16203694280280267661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2069212153482249376.post-36744230166746847532011-02-03T12:52:41.580+00:002011-02-03T12:52:41.580+00:00Gareth,
You seem to think that the Barnett formula...Gareth,<br />You seem to think that the Barnett formula whereby Scotland, Wales and N Ireland receiving as percentage based on English spending is something to with devolution. It is not. It certainly needs reform, as those in Wales are well aware.<br />You repeat the usual 'mantra' yourself that England has a huge majority in the number of MPs at Westminster. Like all the other MPs at Westminister, they are UK MPs. Unlike MPs from Scotland. Wales and N Ireland however they hold no brief to push England's interests - often it is quite the reverse. And those MPs of course vote on party lines so the English do not always get their way even on English issues. English MPs voted against top-up tuition fees in England but the legislation was carried by Scottish Labour MPs (to whom it did not apply). Another example was the proposed third runway at Heathrow. The Tory amendment rejecting it would have been carried had not Mr Brown called on his Scottish Labour contingent to vote with him 'so as not to destabilise the Government".<br />Whatever the best solution to the 'English Question' may, there is no democratic justification for allowing MPs from outside England to determine English health, education, transport (even forestry) policies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2069212153482249376.post-35431590073065923092011-02-03T11:44:14.700+00:002011-02-03T11:44:14.700+00:00So you are a supporter of Top Up Fees for English ...So you are a supporter of Top Up Fees for English Students then are you? Have you forgotten how many votes that passed by? Are you aware how many of those votes vital to the passing of this controversial legislation were actually those very same Scottish MPs who are not accountable to the English people they forced this legislation on. Education being a devolved issue.<br /><br />You unionists are loosing the high ground, and now it becomes your challenge to sell the benefits of this disunion to those same English that are turning away from it.<br /><br />Because if they decide they want out of the union, it will mean the biggest suppliers of the cookies in the jar you keep sticking you hands in (around 85% of all government taxes are raised in England)- will take their chocolate biscuits selfishly for themselves.Juniusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2069212153482249376.post-21982574216251363382011-02-03T11:30:43.091+00:002011-02-03T11:30:43.091+00:00The irrefutable fact is the English are the only o...The irrefutable fact is the English are the only ones constantly left out of the devolution debate.<br /><br />Every reputable poll has shown that 60%+ of English people want an English Parliament.<br /><br />England will never be permitted to have more spending per capita than another nation comprising the United Kingdom. This is why England was bust up into regions, that the English are expressly against. <br /><br />The English are targetted for erasure by the British, wherever in the world those British are born.<br /><br />I'm English not British and I want England out of the thieving UK.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2069212153482249376.post-38947424676708646672011-02-03T10:20:10.177+00:002011-02-03T10:20:10.177+00:00If it's an argument about who controls the Uni...If it's an argument about who controls the United Kingdom, then I guess you can say that the English, due to numerical superiority, are in charge. But English MPs do not vote as a national bloc, to do so would undermine the working of the United Kingdom Parliament and the United Kingdom itself. The House divides on party lines, not national lines.<br /><br />But I'm not interested in that argument. I want democracy and proper accountability. I want MPs elected on an English mandate (not MPs elected to a British parliament on a British mandate/manifesto) deciding on England-only domestic affairs. I want representatives and a parliament that speaks of, to and for England. I want a national conversation of England's governance and a referendum on an English parliament, I want to be consulted just as the Scots and Welsh have been.<br /><br />David Cameron recent speech on public services and the Big Society contained 18 instances of the phrase 'our public services', 4 instances of 'our country' and 2 mentions of 'our schools' (not to mention 'our schools and hospitals', 'our universities', 'our teaching hospitals and universities', 'our children', 'our health outcomes', 'our society', 'public services in our country' and 'our Foundation hospitals'). Britain was mentioned 4 times and Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Poland, Germany, France, New York and Shanghai were all mentioned once, yet there was no mention of England, the country directly affected by Cameron's Big Society and his reforms to public services.<br /><br />And Gordon Brown was even worse than David Cameron. England needs politicians that speak for England, we're no different from Scotland or Wales in that respect.Garethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10021800974251370747noreply@blogger.com