Scottish Independence

[Josquius]

I don't underestimate but I think devolution works better if it runs with identities people have not artificial ones drawn up by bureaucrats - we're not France

England is such an identity, so are the councils. I don't think these regions have any reality for people - I mean look at the map you posted and the partition of Wiltshire

I couldn't tell you which county on the map is Wiltshire. :p
That was just a loose sketch by me, not the way things definitely and absolutely should be. I'd hope that communities would be given a choice of which side of the boundaries they would prefer to be in- for instance my guess of parts of North Yorkshire being more sensible grouped in with their local city, Middlesbrough, than the far away York, but maybe their Yorkshire identity holds more sway over the 'sensible' choice of being in the same Land as their local city.

Not really. The only general elections that were swung by Scotland were in 64, 74 and 2010. You'd get the same sort of swings you normally get in UK elections in England - though other forces may emerge - in a similar way as Scotland will probably swing between Labour and SNP.

My point though is you wouldn't really get the same sort of local issues representation you get in Scotland and Wales. You'd also miss out on the benefits of strong regional groups to fight their side  rather than cities constantly competing with each other and London always coming out on top.
I just don't see an English parliament offering any more feeling of representation than the current UK parliament does.

I've not seen any support anywhere outside the Labour-think tanks for regional assemblies and I think Labour's current policy offer of massively increased power for the Scottish Parliament and no settlement of the West Lothian one is bold.

Its there. I've seen a few articles about bringing back the council of the north and a few months ago I remember seeing a news story about the founding of a north east party- I looked into going to some of their meetings last month but they were in pretty inaccessible places for car-less me.




I think we need a total overhaul of the way we organise our government in the UK.
I think a three(ish) tier model to replace the current mishmash would be best.
On the lowest level we can have municipalities/boroughs- generally equivalent to parliamentary seats (though in huge and sparsely populated places like the highlands exceptions could be needed). They pretty much replace town councils and that sort of thing, and handle low down local issues. They should also have freedom to merge functions with their neighbours as much as they want, so cities can still be cities, and critically, to try and avoid the current situation of satellite towns and cities having nothing to do with each other. For areas to be able to cooperate with multiple cities would be great too, so towns caught between two cities can have a say in both places of interest.
Second level- regional governments.
Third level- UK government

[Sheilbh]

My point though is you wouldn't really get the same sort of local issues representation you get in Scotland and Wales. You'd also miss out on the benefits of strong regional groups to fight their side  rather than cities constantly competing with each other and London always coming out on top.

That's started to change though - see that project by Northern cities, backed by Osborne, to build infrastructure between and within them. I don't see why an English Parliament wouldn't be able to coexist with greater devolution to the cities and the counties.

From what I can see the biggest divide between cities (and boroughs) who are succeeding or look like they might is political willing. I think it's present in London, but also Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Bristol for example while it's lacking in other cities that seem to be stagnating like Hull, Portsmouth or Southampton. That wouldn't change with regional assemblies.

Its there. I've seen a few articles about bringing back the council of the north and a few months ago I remember seeing a news story about the founding of a north east party- I looked into going to some of their meetings last month but they were in pretty inaccessible places for car-less me.

There's a Wessex regionalist party too. It doesn't necessarily mean a great deal. According to the last 'Future of England' survey down by the British Social Attitudes Survey, regional assemblies were the least popular option with 8%. A third want English MPs to vote on English laws, 20% want an English Parliament, a quarter are fine with things as they are and 15% don't know.

Incidentally the areas with a strongest sense of 'English' identity are in the North: Yorkshire, North-East and North-West.
http://www.ippr.org/assets/media/images/media/files/publication/2013/07/england-two-unions_Jul2013_11003.pdf

I just don't think it's a plausible option and, given the constitutional nightmare of English MPs voting on English laws, I think the only alternative is an English Parliament. It's probably my least favourite, but there you go.

Agree on a total overhaul. I think we need directly elected mayors who are far more accountable than leaders of city councils who are anonymous and often replaced in internal party coups. Far stronger powers for all councils - including full powers over council tax - and ideally I'd make an executive figure electable rather than a council leader with, an often very well paid, council CEO too. The mayors we have also need to have greater responsibility. I'd also abolish PCCs () and give some power over police forces to the relevant council leaders.

In addition I'd back full income tax powers and welfare, education and health powers to Scotland and, if they want it, Wales and Northern Ireland. But I think that would also necessitate an English Parliament. But given all that I'd probably cut the number of MPs in half too and curtail the number of working peers. With the UK government responsible for pensions, business/trade, foreign policy, defence and the environment and, possibly, some element of fiscal transfers from richer members - England and Scotland - to the poorer two.

[mongers]

I thought this was done and dust, we can all now move on to a United upland of sunlight and flowers? 

[Jacob]

A girl can get knocked up from a todger in her fanny?

In the UK she can 

Either I'm more mid-atlantic than I thought or the phrase "knocking up" has the American slang meaning in the UK too.

I've heard the phrase used in the non-pregnant way by Irish and Scots, but not English.

[grumbler]

A girl can get knocked up from a todger in her fanny?

  The British fanny is located in the opposite hemisphere from the American one.

[Richard Hakluyt]

A girl can get knocked up from a todger in her fanny?

In the UK she can 

Either I'm more mid-atlantic than I thought or the phrase "knocking up" has the American slang meaning in the UK too.

I've heard the phrase used in the non-pregnant way by Irish and Scots, but not English.

It might be more prevalent in the (former) industrial north of England where factories with strict time discipline preceded cheap and reliable clocks 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knocker-up

I can recall elderly relatives talking about it as a real thing, as in their father had a knocker-upper, but probably haven't used the term myself for 30 years - it may be a (often unknown) historical curiousity for the youth of today.

[Viking]

A girl can get knocked up from a todger in her fanny?

eh... only if done in the toilet of a trans-atlantic flight from heathrow to jfk and ONLY if consummation happens at the moment the stewardess turns into a flight attendant.

[grumbler]

A girl can get knocked up from a todger in her fanny?

eh... only if done in the toilet of a trans-atlantic flight from heathrow to jfk and ONLY if consummation happens at the moment the stewardess turns into a flight attendant.

or so you hope...

[Viking]

A girl can get knocked up from a todger in her fanny?

eh... only if done in the toilet of a trans-atlantic flight from heathrow to jfk and ONLY if consummation happens at the moment the stewardess turns into a flight attendant.

or so you hope...

I'm a bit confused, what is the insult here. It feels a bit like me saying it would be nice if my next bowel movement would be enjoyable and you retorting or so you hope. Of course I do. I have a penis. Go troll somebody else.

[The Minsky Moment]

I know of one significant precedent for a "lopsided" federation structure: the State of Prussia in the Weimar Republic had about 2/3 of the population and land.
So, really nothing to worry about. 

[garbon]

I know of one significant precedent for a "lopsided" federation structure: the State of Prussia in the Weimar Republic had about 2/3 of the population and land.
So, really nothing to worry about. 

[Admiral Yi]

What difference did that make?

Would WWII not have started if Prussia-Brandenburg had been chopped into 4 or 5 states?

[Zanza]

I know of one significant precedent for a "lopsided" federation structure: the State of Prussia in the Weimar Republic had about 2/3 of the population and land.
So, really nothing to worry about. 

The existence of Prussia as the biggest federal state was hardly the reason why the Weimar Republic failed though. It was a bastion of the democratic forces in Germany. The "Preußenschlag" was one of the first measures of the Gleichschaltung that happened even before the election of Hitler as chancellor.

Another example of a lopsided federation was the Soviet Union, which was dominated by the Russian SFSR.

[derspiess]

A girl can get knocked up from a todger in her fanny?

  The British fanny is located in the opposite hemisphere from the American one.

One of the more amusing differences between Britspeak and American, for sure.

[grumbler]

I'm a bit confused, what is the insult here. It feels a bit like me saying it would be nice if my next bowel movement would be enjoyable and you retorting or so you hope. Of course I do. I have a penis. Go troll somebody else.

Maybe you should consider the possibility that some of the rest of us don't post just to insult.  Trolls see insults where none are present.