Devolution is seen by Labour as balm for a troubled state. The way they go about it it institutionalises the divisions and builds deep resentments.
The Blair government returned to Labour’s failed previous attempts to devolve power to a Scottish Parliament and a Welsh Assembly. Gorden Brown thought that would end the rise of nationalist parties in both countries. Labour out in a voting system designed to stop the SNP and Plaid ever gaining control. In my book The death of Britain? I pointed out the new elected bodies gave nationalist parties the perfect platform to build independence movements at to practice the politics of grievance. So it proved.
This new pro EU Labour leader wishes to resume with the EU agenda of breaking up England into EU style regions . These ride roughshod over counties and boroughs, the building blocks of English local government. They are tone deaf to local loyalties. Sunderland does not want to be governed from Newcastle, Exeter does not look to Bristol, the satellite towns to Manchester have different problems and outlooks to the city centre.
Worse still is the way devolution will be conducted. Many local rural and suburban communities want less development on greenfields but will not gain powers to achieve that. Many do nit want migrant hotels and hostels but will have to take them. Many want lower taxes by regional mayors just get powers to put taxes up and waste more money.
September 5, 2026
But it’s not really devolution is it. It’s regional government offices whos sole purpose is to implement government policy.
If powers were devolved then things like planning would be part of their remit . Setting of local property axes would be a devolved matter but it won’t be.
As you say, it’s just another EU initiative being slavishly followed by Westminster.
September 5, 2026
@Ian Wragg – 100% correct. Its just extensions to Burnham’s Politburo to assert that he rules. The guide lines are an extension of those we are already crippled by all come from central command.
September 5, 2026
OT, with apologies
Faced with an unusual level of pressure from Russia’s friends China and India to end his 3-day Ukraine “special military operation” – now in it’s fifth year – the war criminal Putin started making noises at the Eastern Economic Forum on September 3, stating that, in his opinion, there is a chance that Russia and Ukraine can hold constructive peace talks.
We do not know exactly what was said during the recent, sudden, four-hour visit to Moscow by the director of the CIA, but Putin looked unusually uncomfortable
The foul-mouthed, obstreperous and refractory Russian “foreign minister” Sergei Lavrov also reiterated on September 3 Russian demands that equate to full Ukrainian capitulation, feigning willingness to negotiate by proposing the same maximalist demands that Ukraine could never agree to and has previously rejected
This is straight out of Putin’s workbook. First, under pressure he will feign interest in a peace deal. Later, he will set “conditions” which must be met before any negotiations can begin. Finally, in a few days time after another visit by his chum Trump’s “peace envoys” Witkopf and Kushner, he will announce “red lines” which will prevent any meaningful discussions about peace; lastly he will blame Ukraine for the failure of the “peace talks”
Ukraine is, wisely, taking all this Russian bullshit with a generous pinch of salt. Unknown actors reportedly attempted to assassinate Commander of the Russian 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division (Long Range Aviation, Russian Aerospace Forces) Major-General Nikolai Varpakhovich in Saratov Oblast on September 3. Russian law enforcement agencies told Russian business outlet Kommersant on September 3 that unknown actors shot an unspecified VKS officer in Engels, Saratov Oblast, on the morning of September 3 – while Putin was speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum.
Russian insider sources claim that Varpakhovich was the target, that he is currently in critical condition, and that authorities have not apprehended the assailant. The Saratov Oblast Investigative Committee have opened a criminal case for attempted murder. Ukraine’s Security Service charged Varpokhovich in absentia on August 31 for his involvement in the dreadful cruise missile strike against the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv City in July 2024.
This is, notably, the fourth assassination attempt on a Russian officer in rear areas since 1 August.
Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Kupyansk, Novopavlivka, and Oleksandrivka directions. Source:- ISW
September 5, 2026
So the war’s going well for you, is it, SG? Worth paying for?
September 5, 2026
Ukraine are degrading the offensive capability of a gangster state, without shedding of British blood. Regrettable situation but worth the UK’s support.
September 5, 2026
Yup, let other people die. We’ll just pay for it. £25bn so far (Gov.uk), Dave. How much more can we (not) afford?
September 5, 2026
Indeed the country needs even more state sector and state sector waste like it needs a hole in the head.
The UK state sector needs to be halved in size at least. Very easy to do painlessly as so much of what the state does either does net harms like Covid Lockdowns, Covid “Vaccines”, folic acid, Net Zero, market rigging like the NHS, transport, education, energy, banking, housing… or it does little or no good and certainly far less good than the damage done taxing people to fund it.
September 5, 2026
More politicians and/or more money and/or power to politicians will be a disaster. Look at Birmingham, Woking, Thurrock, Slough, Nottingham, Guildford, Surrey, Scotland, Wales, NI… then look at things done by government the NHS, HS2, defence procurement, the Covid response, energy polices, transport policies, education policies…
September 5, 2026
@Lifelogic – all without the support of those paying the ‘Bill’ the electorate
September 5, 2026
Or those who labours and assets have been borrowed against by the state. Did Theresa (Brexit mean sweet FA and Net Zero) May not pass an anti-modern slavery act? Yet they can still take 50%+ of your earning in tax (50% slavery) and then also borrow off the back of your future Labour (in effect bonded labour). Then take a further 40% of your assets of you on death.
September 5, 2026
Off topic but a big Brexit win for this business at least. We appear to have avoided a ridiculous 50% safeguarding duty which places a 50 percent duty on non EU steel products passing into the EU https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/news/new-eu-safeguards-steel-imports-third-countries
Unbelievably it applies equally to high quality Swiss steel products passing into France Germany etc. but not now into the UK..
September 5, 2026
Yes his type of devolution will filter out the “undesirable” elements like choosing who actually arrives in your devolved borough or how much tax they pay. It’s all mouth and no trousers (or perhaps that should be all eyebrows and no jacket!).
September 5, 2026
Still a reluctance here to acknowledge the real agenda with Labour’s ‘devolution’ plan. It’s not about Exeter being ruled from Newcastle or vice versa. It’s about both being subject to more power from Westminster, to impose agendas that Westminster wants.
September 5, 2026
In terms of local government, the ideal in democratic terms is a town council with its surrounding countryside and villages, where local councillors will know and identify with people’s problems. These are being destroyed by Labour, the classic case being Rutland where locals fought hard for democratic control over Oakham and the rest of this tiny county. I accept that some services like police and social services should be in larger county-sized units, but these could be run by consortia of boroughs or town councils.
September 5, 2026
The only devolution needed is an English parliament with powers equal to the Scottish devolved parliament.
For almost thirty years England had been ignored and sidelined. Scottish, Welsh and N Irish constituency MP’s voting laws onto us. While English MP’s have no reciprocal rights.
Democracy began its death spiral under Blair in 1998.
September 5, 2026
The bigger threat to ‘United’ in UK was probably the Brexit vote but even worse it was the stand taken by negotiaters to take UK as far as possible wide of the EU – it’s like middle England forgot all about the fringes. Also we know taking back control hasn’t worked for everyone so a lot of people now feel cheated and are angry especially in Scotland and increasingly so in Wales and in all of this there is a tipping point. Some in the England regions are also looking to take more control of their affairs and this is what Mr Burnham sees – it could be to keep a smaller ‘United’ at the centre we may need to devolve more – nothing is written in stone and after all it’s about taking back control.
September 5, 2026
Each and every time we vote for devolution, regional mayor and police crime commissioners, we should be allowed to vote and tick the box to disband the position/post/job
September 5, 2026
@glen cullen – the ‘none of the above’ check box that is missing from our ballot papers, the much needed checks and balance of being a democracy.
At the last GE more people stayed away than voted the winning party. Total Electorate 48,208,507 of them only around 20%(just 9,708,716) of the electorate found it in themselves to vote Labour. 40.3% or 19,428,028, or twice the winning party couldn’t bring themselves to vote for any of the shower that ended up in this UK Parliament.
For any MP to pat themselves on their backs and think a job well done they need to think again at least twice as many could be considered to see these pseudo representatives as frauds.
The UK Parliaments constant fight against those that empower and pay them is ‘writ large’ in the ballot box.
September 5, 2026
Burnham is completely out of touch indeed tone deaf to the needs of country. We are weak militarily, we have failed policing and a broken judicial system. The CPS takes too long to bring prosecutions and our Court system is lazy and inefficient. Add to this a bloated and grossly inefficient Civil Service and a largely broken bloated NHS. Our roads are overcrowded with HGV’s, trucks and vans and there are still huge numbers of dangerous potholes to be fixed. People entering our country illegally should be detained in secure accommodation until removal. Devolution is a nonsense pipe dream that will cost billions and fix nothing. Burnham needs to wake up and address the real issues facing the entire country.
September 5, 2026
A perverse version of gerrymandering. Parliament, the Government, the Establishment know they are failing but in desperation will ‘flip-flop’ all over the place to contrive the situation of a status quo after the next election. After that the will focus on the next election. The cost? who cares about cost! Who asked for the extra burden of bureaucracy? No one, it a look at me I ‘rule’
Instead of the never ending fight against the Country and its People all they have to do is ‘work with’ those that do and achieve instead of the constant fight, the constant need to malicious manipulate people in their own image. All for what? No gain, no advancement just a self satisfied ego of political religious terrorist.
Manipulation is not ‘management’
September 5, 2026
Burnham does not believe in devolution; he believes in government control. That is what his devolution is all about. Burnham does not believe in government living within its means and will not cut spending. Burnham thinks we can borrow money with no consequences and is about to get a real kick in the backside from the bond markets. Burnham is a weak, wishy-washy liberal leftie who is going to be punched in the face by reality in the not-too-distant future. He is completely out of his depth and, in his own way, will actually be worse than Starmer!
But his greatest weakness is a desire to be liked, and that is fatal for any leader. He will never get back the time wasted wandering around the UK and taking a holiday in those vital early weeks. That is when he should have been in No. 10, getting a grip and working out a vision/direction for the UK.
September 5, 2026
+1
They talk about change, but they really mean more of the same.
September 5, 2026
Devolution is another way of increasing the power of BIG BROTHER GOVERNMENT – more bureaucracy, more expense, more excuses to drain money from the economy to no positive effect.
Mayors and devolution will certainly mean less money to get shared even more thinly. At the end of the day what will be achieved by the small amounts of cash they get?
September 5, 2026
Agree, devolution isn’t a bridge of democracy between state government and local government …its a extra layer of centralise autocratic bureaucracy; the furtherance of cronyism
September 5, 2026
BH: Agree. I have always criticised this government for a lack of transparency and I don’t think all this will make it any better. I gather the outlay so far for No 10 N is only in the tens of thousands £. Let’s wait and see the figures for salaries, staffing, security costs, ministers’ ongoing London / Manchester travel costs, accommodation allowances, running costs, any additional property costs etc., etc.,
September 5, 2026
Listening to Zia He Isn’t up to where everyone else is. . He sounds really really really ridiculous.
People have been reading the internet and have grasped the divide and rule thing.
Zia, Suella and Nadine need to read more internet.
Nige is/was ok but he needs to put his feet up ( so should JR )
and be an interested observer.
Taggart episodes on r5live are great while putting ones feet up.
September 5, 2026
The worst bit of the Reform show was the fireworks ( or whatever they were )
The ” Contractors” really have a low opinion of their voters.
A definite US influence
One of those two was from the Charlie K thing.
Jeez How many ( like me) are and will always now be non voters
but just cynical onlookers at a not very intelligent spectacle
of money obsessed shysters.
September 5, 2026
herebefore: before what and where?The referendum gave a simple option “REMAIN” or “LEAVE”.
I have no doubt that those who govern were confident of a STAY decision.No thought was given to
a “what if?” neither in Westminster nor Brussels.End result administrative diarrhoea amongst the
smug bureaucrats.End result:we never really left(sorry kind host but Conservative administrations
were part and parcel of the sell-out).Despite the cloud-cuckoo fantasies emanating from people of
your persuasion the simple,and unarguable,fact is that UK has a huge balance of trade in goods and
services with the Commonwealth and the rest of the world which is almost eaten-up by our deficit
with EU.We have not needed them since and we need them even less now
September 5, 2026
I find it almost amusing when I hear SNP supporters demand another independence referendum while at the same time demand a return into the eurocracy folds. It seems a contradiction but I suppose it’s just an inbred hatred of Westminster.
I live in Scotland and voted for Scottish independence at the referendum applying the same mindset as when I voted for independence from the EU.
September 6, 2026
places like Coventry will end up dominated by Birmingham again, Sunderland dominated by Newcastle, all the things real people hate.