Rethinking England

I'm having a bit of a wobble about where I stand regarding England and an English Assembly. Though to be honest, I have never been totally convinced about the current viability of a separate English devolved parliament. Especially one modelled as the English equivalent of the Scottish parliament or the Welsh and Northern Irish assemblies.

An English Assembly looks like a nice idea. It would bring a level of equality across these islands.

But the cold hard question we have to ask is: Would the English vote for it?

That is of course assuming that the Great and the Good ever allowed such a vote in the first place.

I think at this moment in time, most English voters would only see it as just another layer of bureaucracy. More "Jobs for the Boys" - and expense account fiddles.

I also fear that is all it would become.

The current ruling elites value their precious "World Role" far beyond any concept of national fairness or even-handedness. Yet another layer of bureaucracy could be used to obfuscate their power base. This could potentially make them even more invulnerable to national scrutiny as they prance around the World Stage from their Westminster stronghold.

The political classes would obviously rather keep their virtual dictatorship over English affairs. But if necessary, they could cope with another layer of bureaucrats, as long as they keep their dominant position in Westminster.

Politicians are, without doubt the most disliked (even loathed) class of individuals in the land.

So do we want more layers of self serving elites with their little empires and petty squabbles?

I think the resounding answer from the electorate at any potential vote would be no. Just as has happened before.

Like when the elecorate (or at least the good people of the North East) soundly rejected John Prescotts dirty little regionalisation plan, which would have cemented in the self servers while dismembering England wholesale.

But where does that leave England today? The answer from me is, I am afraid to say, "I don't know".

In previous posts, I railed against the sheer unfairness of the current system which denies an English identity. Especially as English taxes finance almost all of the governance of these islands. The unfairness of tuition fees and prescription charges rankle many. Myself included.

It is not that the Scots and Welsh governments voted for reduced charges.

It is that the English has no say at all. We simply had to put up with what we got. No voice. No debate.

England has in many ways been erased from the UK nationality debate. It is a non country with no representation and is despised and vilified. Especially by the ruling elites.

Of course if Alec Salmond has his way (and he is a very persuasive individual) then the issue of who governs England will soon have to be addressed.

I suppose really, we need to start thinking about this now rather than if/when the Scottish vote for a cessation of the Union.

But I for one, at this moment in time, don't really know what to think.

So I am open to suggestions.

But really I think we all need to get a debate going and a game plan(s) sorted for whatever outcome happens in the Scottish referendum.

We can't simply muddle along like this. The problem and the issues will not go away.