A Tangled Web

Fragmenting England



Ever since Sugar Ray Prescott mooted the idea of 'regional assemblies', the future of English cohesiveness has been a talking point. Unlike Scotland and Wales, New Labour does not think the English should be awarded the privilege of voting for an English Parliament. Instead, we will be presented with a pig's ear of a proposal to accentuate regionalism at a time when the EU is increasingly looking to catalogue its component parts under a regional banner.



Don't misunderstand me! I no more favour devolution to an English legislature than I do to the cranks ensconced in Edinburgh and Cardiff. Devolution fundamentally undermines the long-term future of the United Kingdom and, consequently, is antithetical to everything I believe in. Even so, offering English voters the prize of one assembly would still be preferable to this zonal-oriented concoction promoted by Raynsford and chums.



Do we really need three more architectural monuments to politicians and their incompetence? With two assemblies on the go (and one about to be reincarnated in Belfast), I think the United Kingdom has more than its fair share of gravy trains.