Devolution

Notes on devolution and the UK's political structure. 

- New political parties that are not tied to Westminster

- Secretary of State for Wales/N.I./Scot to be representatives of those nations to Westminster

- Devolve aspects of the capital to other cities in the country

- Remove tax loopholes for 2nd homes/holiday homes

- Reopen closed rail lines and bolster transport infrastructure

- Invest in nuclear and other green energy technologies

- Nationalise all infrastructure

- Limit consultant use in public sector

I've often pondered this question of identity and how it relates to the peoples of this island union. I think part of the trouble is that the English essentially surrendered theirs to the idea of Britishness, and haven't managed to really separate from that - whereas with the other members of the union, we fought long and hard against the English to keep some semblance of ourselves free from being subsumed. And while there will always be some element of animosity towards the English within Welsh/Scottish/Irish Nationalism (to greater or lesser degrees), it isn't the core ideology. Unfortunately, English Nationalism has, by and large (and certainly most loudly) become entangled with some rather nasty and backwards concepts - firmly still stuck in the ideas of propaganda about Empire. There is no flourishing of anything that isn't either aggressively militaristic, or so staunchly unionist for no other reason than that most pernicious excuse of "tradition" (my view of tradition being that it is peer pressure from the long dead).

Coming from the Welsh perspective of devolution, despite history, our primary grievances with John Bull is the limiting of our devolution. In fact, you'll hear many cry out that the calls for further devolution (and even from those who seek independence) are not just calls for ourselves, but those in England whom we see as suffering in the same manner - limited funding, limited local democracy, used as a political football followed by broken promises along with being ignored. This leads to my point above about devolving the capital - London is the perfect model of how badly things can go for a country when the full focus of its economics, judiciary, legislature, and executive are all focused in one small area.