The future of the British constitution

Bribing the scots was wrong and the actions of a spineless twit covering his backside because he was arrogant and complacent. England willl not get devolved powers anywhere near the level of the other home countries and that's that we will have however get the bill and cut in services to pay the bill this is not a good thing for anyone.

[Osem]

A parliament devoid of MP's from areas outside England will at least mean that it'll be the English electorate which holds its parliament to account. It'll also mean that parliament can vote on our affairs without paying consideration to the views of people who don't live here but quite like influencing what we do.

[tweetiepooh]

It does get quite complex though if England is much more "powerful" than other regions it could enact rules that affect those other regions detrimentally. It's where devolvement gets tricky, what powers can be successfully devolved/isolated? There are already issues on simple things like prescriptions, fees and the like. This would get even harder with other bodies in between.

Maybe we need 4 devolved bodies each with the same powers for each region and then Westminster looking after the rest. Money will still be an issue though, if a region can't generate the income it needs to run it's devolved power because of population, wealth etc but needs more expenditure for the same reasons.

[Taf]

Ah yes, let's follow the EU plan of chopping up countries into "regions" who individually have less and less power to veto EU dictat by unelected federalists.

[Osem]

Cutting out the rest of the UK from English matters would mean that our parliament would be better able to concentrate more on those regions within England which need additional support than it is now. I don't see any need for further substantial devolution to the regions of England at this stage and feel, on balance, it is fair that the wealthier regions subsidise the less affluent in order to improve services etc.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by nomadking

So everybody in Cornwall is filthy rich and they don't grumble about government funding?

If anybody suggested that you'd have given a valid response.

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by Russ

If anybody suggested that you'd have given a valid response.

You implied that Cornwall was doing ok on the basis of being a holiday destination, and could cope financially on its own.

[Russ]

Originally Posted by nomadking

You implied that Cornwall was doing ok on the basis of being a holiday destination, and could cope financially on its own.

No, you added the last bit. You asked what Cornwall can offer businesses and I reminded you of its tourist industry. I'm not sure what this has to do with the point in hand though.

[Taf]

The population of Cornwall (and a few other areas of the UK) is quite sparse, relying mostly on agriculture and tourism. Not that much money in agriculture these days, and tourism has been hit hard by the recession and poor weather.

[Ignitionnet]

Originally Posted by Taf

Ah yes, let's follow the EU plan of chopping up countries into "regions"

Yes, but then give those regions the powers to tell the EU's unelected bunch of closet communists where to shove anything that isn't directly related to the Common Market and vital to its function.

In other words - the Swiss system. Decisions taken as close to those they affect as possible and involving those they affect as much as possible.

That sounds awesome to me.