It`s All Our Fault

Alan Cochrane writing in the Telegraph says it is “good to hear the Tory leader reject the populist appeal of English nationalism.”
I find it rather odd that when writing about the elections to the Scottish Parliament it is somehow the English which are to blame for the present mess the Scottish raj which is controlling [...]

Conservatives Plans at odds with EU ideals

John Redwood has a post ridiculing a glossy brochure sent to him and doubtless many others, by Margaret Hodge, entitled “Creating prosperity in every region: England’s Regional development” Agencies”.

“She tells us the RDAs help to bring prosperity to all parts of England. Nowhere does she point out that the reigonal disparities have grown substantially during [...]

House of Lords Reform II

I said I was going to post on Jonathan Freedland article in the Guardian about the reform of the House of Lords, I do not intend to actually comment on Freedland`s article, except to say he is suggesting a fully elected house and use that as a springboard for my own thoughts. Although many belive [...]

Scottish Referendum Question

Is the SNP offering something to Scottish electors that is not within the powers of the Scottish parliament.
Rodney Brazier Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Manchester in the Times
Sir, How could the SNP, if it had power in the Scottish Parliament, legally hold a referendum on independence? Under the Scotland Act “the Union of [...]

Support for the EU can be equated with a semi religious belief

J Clive Mathews seems to be a firm supporter of a utopian European vision, who nevertheless is prepared to support the EU Nightmare that is in reality the only one on offer, in the hope that it will all work out right in the end.  
Having crossed swords with Nosemonkey on his Blog several times, [...]

Not really news!

Under the headline Ukip pledges not to fight Eurosceptic MPs the Telegraph builds a story on the fact that Nigel Farage wrote to all MPs to announce that he would no longer field candidates against proven Eurosceptics. The kicker comes in the final paragraph where it states “MPs would have to demonstrate their Eurosceptic credentials [...]

The BNP and an English Parliament

There are many who belive that only way out of the mess Tony Blair has made of the British Constitution is the creation of a separate English parliament, give more power to the Scottish Parliament and to the Welsh Assembly which would then become the Welsh parliament, and then to create a smaller federal style [...]

Scottish Nationalism Good English Nationalsim Bad

Faced as we are with the prospect of the SNP wining the Scottish Parliamentary elections next year and then calling a referendum on Scottish independence, it is amusing that some commentators do not seem to understand that this would be the cause of the break up of the United Kingdom. David Clark a former Labour [...]

It`s in the details

The presiding officer of the Welsh assembly has said that devolution in England would help deliver a “United Kingdom in a united Europe.”
Lord Elis-Thomas said giving people in England a similar say in their domestic affairs would help achieve a more secure constitutional settlement.

“There should be a proper English parliament, and that [...]

Subsiding Scotland

Scottish National MP Angus MacNeil writing in the Telegraph says;
“This week Labour, Tories and the Lib Dems have taken great delight in telling the Scots that they are subsidised by over £11 billion”
Although he argues that this figure is disputed by the independence movement in Scotland, he does not offer any evidence to [...]

The West Lothian Question

From Little Man in a Toque a letter to Sir Menzies Campbell who has only ever had one email on the West Lothian Question.
westminster_office@mingcampbell.org.uk

Who says
the English do not want their own parliament
that the English don’t want another layer of government
that an English parliament would put the English off politics

As the e-mal explains [...]

Now England wants its independence!

Very strange polling results in the Telegraph,
“an ICM opinion poll for The Sunday Telegraph has found. Independence is backed by 52 per cent of Scots while an astonishing 59 per cent of English voters want Scotland to go it alone.”
68 percent of English voters and 58 per cent of Scottish voters support for [...]

Gordon Brown and the Constitutional Labyrinth

Just a few years ago the idea that Gordon Brown should not become Prime Minister of Britain would have not even been worth comment, no one except the most radical English Nationalist would have even questioned a Scotish or Welsh politicians’ right to become the first minister.

Unfortunately that is no longer the case; there [...]

ENGLISH VOTES ON ENGLISH MATTERS

The Campaign for an English Parliament has just issued a full report on the devolution process, going by the title of
DEVOLUTION FOR ENGLAND
A CRITIQUE OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY POLICY
‘ENGLISH VOTES ON ENGLISH MATTERS’

The report details the devolution progress to date and explores some of the problems that have been created by [...]

The English will be heard, by George

Until a few years ago I, like most English people, thought of myself as British. Being English was something we did in our spare time, and gave little thought to. How times have changed.
The Blair Government, devolution and the rule of a majority in Britain (the English) by a minority (the Scots) have all sharpened [...]

The English Question

The English Question
Thanks to the Blog Great Britian not Little England for the link to this report from Publius: The Journal of Federalism by Robert Hazell.
Devolution to Scotland and Wales throws up related questions about the government of
England. Does England need to find its own separate political voice? Does England too need devolution? There [...]

Letters in the Press

There were four letters that court my eye this morning two in the Times and two more in the Telegraph
The first I did not see the significance of at first, but is probably the most important, because it covers quite a bit of ground, and also either shows the Conservatives to be particularly gullible, particularly [...]

Belmarsh detainees, and other matters II

Pt Two
There is a great difference between British Nationals and foreign Nationals and if that difference is not clear to Judges then British nationals-all 56 million-should fight against discrimination. To believe that British nationals and foreign nationals should be treated equally misses the point in having separate Countries, separate Constitutions, or having Laws at all [...]

More Costs less Democracy

More Costs less Democracy
As we the people are struggling to make our voices heard, and our wishes known against the cacophony of the political and media cant. With ever more of our powers to have our wishes influence the political agenda, being removed by piecemeal bites at the British way of life and the British [...]

“Multiple Breaches of Purdah Period as Labour get desperate

Neil Herron:
“Multiple Breaches of Purdah Period as Labour get desperate
As more Government Ministers pile into the region in a desperate attempt to save the face of the Labour Party in a referendum which is looking more like a loser by the day, the Electoral Commission are conspicuous by their absence.
Why aren’t they checking who is [...]

Regionaliastation of England

There is a massive amount of evidence available to indicate the EU would wish to break up Great Britain into political regions, and gradually allow those regions to take power from Westminster, thus diminishing the British Government even further.
It is quite obvious that if the majority of our laws are made in Brussels, leaving Westminster [...]

The Professor

Is this new statute untouchable?
(Filed: 16/09/2004) The Telegraph

Vernon Bogdanor, Professor of Government at the University of Oxford, says that the Human Rights Act, which came into force almost four years ago, has become a “fundamental law” – one that is superior to other statutes. Together with equally fundamental legislation setting up the Scottish [...]

Who are the members of The Electoral Commission?

Who are the members of The Electoral Commission?

More often these days we see people we do not elect, are being placed in positions of power or patronage. These people owe their place on these boards set up by the government, to the government itself, they therefore cannot claim independence, yet they and their comities are [...]