One of my aims in speaking for England over the last year was to persuade the Conservative party that it needed to produce a Manifesto for England.
The main parties have traditionally produced distinctive manifesto documents for Wales and Scotland, but never produced one for England. As the next Parliament will legislate to give much more power to Scotland, including powers over Income Tax, and as the last Parliament did give the power to N0rthern Ireland to settle its own Corporation tax, the need for a Manifesto for England, and a policy for England, is clear.
The Conservative party is the only mainstream party to say that we now must tackle the problem of England. In future matters settled in Cardiff for Wales and in Edinburgh for Scotland should be settled by just the English MPs at Westminster. As Scotland gains greater independence to settle her own tax rates and collect her own taxes, so we need to adjust the financial settlement between England and Scotland to reflect the passage of those revenues to Edinburgh.
In the next Parliament England will need strong voices, to ensure a fair settlement. I am pleased the Conservative party has listened to the needs of England.
Published and promoted by Thomas Puddy for John Redwood, both at 30 Rose Street Wokingham RG40 1XU
April 15, 2015
UKIP is promising to scrap Barnett and allocate funding based upon need. Will the Conservatives promise something as pleasing for the English?
April 15, 2015
Your party (and Lab/LibDem) have this problem:
They still want to regard the UK as one country, and have been trying for centuries to convince the population of the same thing. However, it isn’t. And, contrary to many who blame the regionalisation of England on subversive EU plans, I believe it is the UK political parties who are attempting this in order to cling to their belief that GB is one country consisting of regions (including Scotland and Wales).
And the recent Scottish issues have highlighted the fact that the majority (certainly the indigenous) people of this island still regard themselves as English, Welsh, or Scottish, and although they may refer to both, eg, England and Britain (or more accurately, use the words English and British) they are quite careful and specific about which adjective they use, depending on the context.
Ultimately, the Westminster parties need to recognise that ours is a union comprising 4 countries, not one. Also, given the amount of time the party leaders spend in the West Country, they should also recognise that Cornwall is no more English than Gwent.
Although I think the EVEL proposals in the manifesto are utterly insulting and insufficient, I’ll take it for now as it is a step in the right direction. However, there is no doubt in my mind that, at some point, the non-English MPs will vote down something that is good for England. When this happens, it needs to be published in every newspaper who will take it, and then finally we might be able to start freeing ourselves from the shackles of non-English MPs.
Out of interest, given the fact that England seems to get very little from Scotland and Wales, is the desperation to cling to the Union just so we don’t have to negotiate with the UN over the permanent seat on the SC? Or is it just because it’ll involve a lot of other admin that people can’t be bothered to address?
April 18, 2015
Simply apply Devolution for all Country’s within the UK, all on exactly the same basis.
All you then have to decide is what should be covered by the UK on a joint basis.
Simple and fair.