THE NEED FOR AN ENGLISH PARLIAMENT
Lord Kinnock, ex-EU president [and still in receipt of an EU income], nouveau toff and now chairman of the British Council, has claimed that there is a danger of ‘enmity’ between the different parts of the Britain.
He said:
Lord Kinnock was speaking at the Scotland’s ‘Festival of Politics’ at the Scottish parliament.
Lord Kinnock has already stated that he will campaign for a ‘No’ vote in the event of a second referendum for more devolution in Wales.
Presently, Peter Hain is opposed to another referendum, even though the White Paper, Better Governance for Wales, includes proposals for one.
A Government of Wales [Amendment] Bill is due to be introduced in parliament later this year. It will propose the fast-tracking of Welsh legislation through Westminster, but does not propose the introduction of law-making powers for the Welsh Assembly.
The Tory Shadow Welsh Secretary, Bill Wiggin, agreed with Lord Kinnock and warned that there were major concerns about the delivery of those public services for which the Welsh parliament is responsible.
But Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Social Justice Minister, Leanne Wood, condemned Lord Kinnock for being an ‘unreconstructed anti-devolutionist’. She said that:
This is all very well, but the English do not have a parliament of any description, whereas the Scottish parliament has substantial autonomy. Leanne Wood seems not to appreciate this fact when she starts calling for ‘equality with England and Scotland’.
The only point of view that Lord Kinnock can see is his own. It is not for him to decide whether or not the English have their own parliament. He is Welsh. He takes no consideration at all of this in his comments.
The manner in which the English are being denied their own parliament and are being exploited as a milch cow by Labour, is much more likely to cause enmity than a second devolution referendum in Wales.
This all demonstrates that the current constitutional settlement between Scotland, Wales and England is untenable. The English need their own referendum to determine their own future.
He said:
‘What continues to concern me is not decentralisation of effective administrative and executive power but the fear, and the fear still exists, of the fragmentation of the United Kingdom and the possibility of enmity growing out of it.
Unless there is a general pattern of decentralisation throughout the whole of the United Kingdom, the possibility of tensions, misunderstandings, even antagonisms between the different parts of the United Kingdom, continues.’
Lord Kinnock was speaking at the Scotland’s ‘Festival of Politics’ at the Scottish parliament.
Lord Kinnock has already stated that he will campaign for a ‘No’ vote in the event of a second referendum for more devolution in Wales.
Presently, Peter Hain is opposed to another referendum, even though the White Paper, Better Governance for Wales, includes proposals for one.
A Government of Wales [Amendment] Bill is due to be introduced in parliament later this year. It will propose the fast-tracking of Welsh legislation through Westminster, but does not propose the introduction of law-making powers for the Welsh Assembly.
The Tory Shadow Welsh Secretary, Bill Wiggin, agreed with Lord Kinnock and warned that there were major concerns about the delivery of those public services for which the Welsh parliament is responsible.
But Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Social Justice Minister, Leanne Wood, condemned Lord Kinnock for being an ‘unreconstructed anti-devolutionist’. She said that:
‘We deserve equality with England and Scotland. Equality will not create enmity but the current unequal devolution settlement could. It is giving Wales a second class institution that creates resentment not the devolution process itself.
We want a parliament for Wales that can deliver real change for its people, not a talking shop Assembly which serves nobody except New Labour.’
This is all very well, but the English do not have a parliament of any description, whereas the Scottish parliament has substantial autonomy. Leanne Wood seems not to appreciate this fact when she starts calling for ‘equality with England and Scotland’.
The only point of view that Lord Kinnock can see is his own. It is not for him to decide whether or not the English have their own parliament. He is Welsh. He takes no consideration at all of this in his comments.
The manner in which the English are being denied their own parliament and are being exploited as a milch cow by Labour, is much more likely to cause enmity than a second devolution referendum in Wales.
This all demonstrates that the current constitutional settlement between Scotland, Wales and England is untenable. The English need their own referendum to determine their own future.
posted by erc @ 8:24 pm
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