The referendum campaign went on for over two years, many referred to it as the neverendum. As I am sure you can imagine I was very much on the side of the Better Together campaign, hoping that the United kingdom would remain intact. Fortunately this was the result. There was some passionate campaigning from both sides. I have a huge amount of respect for anyone and everyone that engages in political debate, no matter what side they are on. In particular I greatly respect Alex Salmond and his Deputy Nicola Sturgeon, indeed I had the privilege of working in Ms Sturgeon's department when she was Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing. In the main I found myself supportive of many of the initiatives in Health policy in Scotland, my only real disagreement with Nicola's position was on independence. Alistair Darling was a consistent safe pair of hands leading the Better Together campaign, I admire his tenacity throughout the campaign.
Alex Salmond has decided to stand down as party leader and First Minister. I agree with his assessment that it is for the next generation to take the independence issue forward in due course. I also agree with commentators that this is not the last we will see of Mr Salmond. He is a shrewd political operator and has much to offer in the future. I really enjoy listening to him speak, although I don't always agree with what he is saying, he is one of the best orators I have heard in Scottish politics. I wish him and his family well for the future.
The final weeks of campaigning brought out Gordon Brown and the three leaders of the main Westminster parties. There was a worry that things were getting too close and that the Yes campaign might win. The opinion polls became 'too close to call'. A timetable was produced for implementing the new powers for Holyrood, which all three parties were signed up to, that in itself is quite an achievement. The final poll, the poll of all polls took place on 18th September and Scotland voted No. The political establishment now has to deliver. I wrote that exact phrase on Twitter on Friday morning and one person responded with the following comment, 'Politicians can't even deliver a pint of milk'. Well, on this occasion they have to deliver otherwise the people of Scotland will, quite rightly, never forgive Westminster if they feel they have been duped. Many questions arise on what this means for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This is the main point of this blog.
If Scotland is given more powers (it should be given them, on the basis of the promises made in the referendum campaign) what needs to be done to ensure equity in the rest of the UK? Wales nad Northern Ireland already have an Assembly each. These assemblies need to be given more powers, to ensure equity with Scotland. England does not have an equivalent body (except for the London Assembly). There are some options for England, they all have pros and cons. I am listing some of them below:
- Create Regional Assemblies in England
- Restrict voting at Westminster on England only matters to English MPs
- Create an English Parliament
Create Regional Assemblies: This will create nine or ten separate bodies all with building, administration and other costs, this in my opinion is clearly not affordable or desirable. it would cause too much divergence across England and put a much greater financial burden on the taxpayer.
Restrict voting on England only matter to English MPs: This will be problematic for a number of reasons. first of all, it would create two classes of Westminster MP, one with full voting rights and another with limited voting rights. You could argue that they should be paid differently for different rights/responsibilities, I dread to think of the long term consequences. Secondly, this is not solely about English only matters. Currently Scotland has more devolved powers than Wales and Northern Ireland, therefore some matters at Westminster only affect England and Wales, do we then only permit English and Welsh MPs to vote, with a similar situation for Northern Ireland. What happens when there is a vote on a matter that only affects Northern Ireland, is this restricted to Northern Ireland only MPs? We would end up with a chaotic situation and the party in power might only truly have a majority when debating and voting on reserved matters.
Create an English Parliament: This will create one additional body in the UK. It will need to have the same devolved powers as the Scottish Parliament, Welsh and Northern Irish Assemblies. The most problematic question will be what to call its members we already have MEPs sitting in the European Parlaiment - this is only a minor distraction. Reserved matters will remain with Westminster, covering defence, foreign affairs, security/intelligence, international development etc. The number of Westminster MPs could be significantly reduced. A new English Parliament could be created in another city, say Birmingham, Leeds or Manchester. A considerable amount of real estate could be sold off in London to fund this, we won't need Whitehall offices for health, education, justice, environment etc. The scope for releasing capital is huge and it would benefit another city enormously, re-distributing wealth and civil service jobs.
The creation of a federal UK is not something that I ever imagined, however the devolution process we have witnessed since the mid nineties has taken us in this direction. It really is time to grasp the nettle and take this forward as a matter of urgency. Acknowledging that a timetable was promised to Scotland, it really does need to be honoured. The next steps for the rest of the UK need to be addressed urgently, but not rushed through for the sake of it, do it right and do it once!
