MILIBAND RIGHT ON ONE THING-DEVOLUTION.

 

 

HANG ON MANCHESTER!

 

It has been a significant week for the future governance of the North of England. Exactly ten years after the people of the North East rejected the weak elected assembly on offer at the time, we now have the two major parties vying with each other to devolve real power to parts of the North

 

The Chancellor has promised major powers to Greater Manchester. Meanwhile the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, has set out a more measured approach offering powers to the whole of the north of England and House of Lords reform to address our current under representation in the upper chamber.

 

My sources in Manchester tell me they have become exasperated by Ed Miliband’s approach of awaiting a constitutional convention. Although Manchester is a Labour authority it finds it easier to deal with the fast moving Tory George Osborne. However the Manchester leadership needs to recognise that city regions aren’t the whole north, that the Tories may not be in a position to deliver their promises come May and a convention with everyone having their say is the right approach.

 

It has always been a weakness of the city regionalists that they don’t see the need for democratic accountability. They have been dragged into accepting an elected conurbation mayor in 2017 if the Tories get back. Sir Richard Leese is the favourite to take this role but I don’t think that will happen. The Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd (who’s post will be taken over by the mayor) is a possible contender or possibly Jim McMahon, the leader of Oldham.

 

ED’S FULL CONSTITUTIONAL SOLUTION.

 

Some weeks ago I suggested a considered approach to the many constitutional issues that have arisen in England since the Scottish referendum vote. Ed Miliband’s plan provides for this.

 

He is looking at the wider picture- not just the city regions. He wants an English regions cabinet committee so that our problems are put at the heart of government and not forgotten by Whitehall civil servants. He also wants to address reform of the House of Lords once and for all by bringing the regions into the process. There is a crying need for this. It should be called the House of the South East at the moment. 31% of peers have their main residence in London and 23% in the South East. Just 5% of peers list their main residence in the North West and 4% in the North East. Miliband wants to create an elected Senate with representatives drawn from the nations, regions and cities of the United Kingdom.

 

At a time when the alienation of the people from politics is reaching dangerous proportions, this might be a way of turning things round. There are many misgivings about Ed Miliband and his leadership qualities but on this subject he has adopted a comprehensive approach to constitutional reform.

 

TORIES’ PIECEMEAL APPROACH.

 

Greater Manchester has been well run in the last few years. Its Combined Authority has been an exemplar of how councils with different political colours or aspirations can work together. One can understand the Chancellor’s wish to reward such progress, but he needs to look at the wider picture. The other city regions like West Yorkshire and Liverpool are promised powers, although not necessarily the same powers and on a different time scale. Then there is the suburban and rural North not covered by this. In other words if the Tories get back we will have a hotchpotch. This is intentional. The one size fits all approach is openly criticised but the Osborne way could also be a recipe for confusion and debilitating rivalry.

 

So if the Tories win we will have disparate devolution to some city regions, English votes for English laws and no reform of the House of Lords.

 

Labour’s constitutional convention approach should be supported.

 

 

 

 

 

DON’T RUSH THE NORTH MR CAMERON

 

 

REGIONAL ASSEMBLIES ARE THE ANSWER..

 

Has Alex Salmond really lost? Is the North going to stand idly by whilst promises made by a panicking government in the last days of the referendum campaign are now redeemed?

 

Before the end of this parliament the Scottish Parliament will have the power to levy lower corporation and income tax than us. They will get new powers to attract inward investment. They may even be attracting some of our air passengers from Manchester and Newcastle airports with lower passenger duty. This is not to mention free elderly care, university tuition and prescription charges made possible by the £1200 per head extra funding Scotland gets as compared to England.

 

Now it is our turn to demand change. However the rushed statement by the Prime Minister on the steps of Downing St on Friday morning is full of danger for those of us who want effective power devolved to the North. Mr Cameron is rushing things to appease his backbenchers. The North needs time to make its views heard. That cannot be done by the General Election. The Prime Minister made a brief reference to city regions, so it looks as if he is putting his faith in the Coalition’s patchwork of Combined Authorities, elected mayors, City Regions, Local Enterprise Partnerships and regional growth funds controlled from London. It is not good enough

 

We need Regional Assemblies. Not the weak structures that John Prescott had to offer when he was defeated by centralists in 2004, but real powerful assemblies for the North West, North East and Yorkshire. They would be funded by some of the excessive subsidy currently going north of the border and would have power over transport, economic development, strategic planning and health. These are functions which no city region can run on its own. Elected Assemblies would be able to begin the rebalancing of the UK’s economy and avoid the continued domination of the South East and a freshly empowered Scottish Parliament.

 

Before the anti region brigade bleat about an extra tier of politicians, I would propose the completion of the move to unitary local government, particularly in places like Lancashire, sweeping away hundreds of district councillors.

 

An English Parliament is emphatically not what we need, and Mr Cameron does not seem to favour it from his statement on Friday morning. An English Parliament truly would be a new tier of expensive politicians and such a body would usually be dominated by southern Conservatives. Scots must no longer vote on England only issues but that can be done by designating bills at Westminster. This proposal would present a problem for a Labour government who would usually face a blocking English majority but if real power was devolved to English Assemblies, the effect of this would be minimised

 

A CLOSE RUN THING.

 

After months of complacency, the Westminster establishment woke up just in time to save the United Kingdom. The last minute vow to give the Scots devo max after all might have made the difference. That casts doubt on the Prime Minister’s refusal to have a third question on the ballot paper which forced people who wanted more power into the “yes” camp.

But the main reason why Salmond lost was surely the unanswered economic questions. Whether George Osborne would have agreed to a common currency in the end we will never know. It seems unlikely as the pressure from his backbenchers would have been very much against it. But doubts about the currency to be used and how it might affect mortgages and pensions proved too much for most canny Scots.

 

Salmond was right on one thing. Uncertainty about Scotland’s membership of the EU is greater now than if Scotland was independent and eager to remain in or re-enter. Now they may find themselves taken out following the 2017 referendum if the Tories get back next year.

 

Where does the “no” vote leave our leading politicians? David Cameron held the union together but only after calling his own party “effing Tories” and having to make desperate last minute concessions of power to Scotland. These have made him even more enemies on the Tory backbenches.

 

Ed Miliband does not emerge from this very well. Large numbers of Labour supporters haemorrhaged to the Scottish Nationalists and Gordon Brown had to bail him out.

 

Alex Salmond has led his party brilliantly to get to this point but failing at the last hurdle will be a bitter blow. Calls to start a new drive for independence in 2030 will not go down well with an exhausted Scottish electorate.

 

The one politician to emerge with credit was Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Tories. There may be more pandas in Edinburgh zoo than Scottish Tory MPs but her feisty performance in the Better Together campaign may give the Conservatives some hope of recovery in Scotland, especially if people start to ask “what is the point of the SNP?”

 

The lesson we in the north have to learn is that it is only by showing the Westminster elite that we are serious that we will get anything. Let the Campaign for the North begin!

 

 

 

 

RECOVERY THREATENED BY REFERENDA MANIA.

 

 

BUSINESS TO SAVE THE UNION?

 

A sure way of destabilising the fragile economic recovery was for David Cameron to back not one but two referenda in the space of three years.Referenda that could reduce the UK, or what’s left of it, to a basket case.

 

I wrote some months ago that by the end of 2017 the United Kingdom of England, Wales and Northern Ireland could easily be preparing to leave the European Union. There was very little debate in England about Scottish independence, just a complacent feeling that the Scots would not vote yes.

 

Things are different now. English political leaders have been scrambling North stuffing Alex Salmond’s mouth with gold.

 

The last minute business revolt against the real prospect of an independent Scotland will probably save the day, but it will be a close run thing.

 

The experience of the last week might give people a flavour of what it will be like if we vote to come out of the European Union in three years time. With the world the way it is, this is no time to embrace separatism whether it is offered by the Scot Nats or UKIP. They offer a road to enmity and disruption.

 

So why have we come to the point where next Thursday there is the possibility of us losing the Scottish part of our British family? Alex Salmond and his deputy are very able politicians. They stand out partly because the major figures in the other parties all decided to ply their trade at Westminster leaving the B team in the Scottish Parliament. The SNP has played the patriotic card well, particularly with the young voters, who perhaps don’t ask the hard economic questions.

 

The referendum comes at a time of mass disillusion with conventional politics. “Give us something different” is the cry. In the European elections it was UKIP, next week it will be the SNP. In Scotland to use Mr Cameron’s words, they hate the f_____g Tories, they yearn for a more socialist programme than North London boy Ed Miliband is offering and the Lib Dems are seen as Tory lackeys in the Coalition.

 

Although Salmond has played his hand well, the gaping hole at the heart of his case has been exposed.

He relies on the claim that the Chancellor is bluffing about the currency issue. Perhaps he is. Perhaps “reasonable logic” would kick in as the enormity of disaggregating the two countries hit home and the negotiations got under way. But the mood of English people might not allow it. They may say “they voted for independence, let them get on with it.” A North West MP expressed those exact sentiments to me at Westminster this week.

 

But what if against the odds the vote is for independence? The Bank of England is poised for emergency action on Friday to stabilise the currency, and there will be calls for the Prime Minister’s resignation. We would face the prospect of electing a House of Commons next May where 59 MPs would be leaving within a year. And that hobbled parliament is meant to negotiate our future in the EU.

 

Its a great time to plan business investment!

 

LABOUR PANIC IN HEYWOOD AND MIDDLETON.

 

Jim Dobbin was a kind decent man and we all mourn his passing. My condolences go to his family. His death put Labour in a difficult position. They rightly wanted to respect family feelings which would normally require that the by election writ should not be moved before the funeral.

 

But the party fear that given enough time UKIP might be able to exploit voters who feel “left behind” by modern politics in this traditional Labour seat. They wanted to avoid a contest where the UKIP bandwagon, flushed by the inevitable victory of Douglas Carswell in Clacton on October 9th would roll on to Heywood and Middleton. Now both contests will be fought on the same day and UKIP’s resources will be stretched.

 

JUST JIM 118.

 

RECOVERY THREATENED BY REFERENDUM MANIA.

 

A sure way of destabilising the fragile economic recovery was for David Cameron to back not one but two referenda in the space of three years.Referenda that could reduce the UK, or what’s left of it, to a basket case.

 

I wrote some months ago that by the end of 2017 the United Kingdom of England, Wales and Northern Ireland could easily be preparing to leave the European Union. There was very little debate in England about Scottish independence, just a complacent feeling that the Scots would not vote yes.

 

Things are different now. English political leaders have been scrambling North stuffing Alex Salmond’s mouth with gold.

 

The last minute business revolt against the real prospect of an independent Scotland will probably save the day, but it will be a close run thing.

 

The experience of the last week might give people a flavour of what it will be like if we vote to come out of the European Union in three years time. With the world the way it is, this is no time to embrace separatism whether it is offered by the Scot Nats or UKIP. They offer a road to enmity and disruption.

 

So why have we come to the point where next Thursday there is the possibility of us losing the Scottish part of our British family? Alex Salmond and his deputy are very able politicians. They stand out partly because the major figures in the other parties all decided to ply their trade at Westminster leaving the B team in the Scottish Parliament. The SNP has played the patriotic card well, particularly with the young voters, who perhaps don’t ask the hard economic questions.

 

The referendum comes at a time of mass disillusion with conventional politics. “Give us something different” is the cry. In the European elections it was UKIP, next week it will be the SNP. In Scotland to use Mr Cameron’s words, they hate the f_____g Tories, they yearn for a more socialist programme than North London boy Ed Miliband is offering and the Lib Dems are seen as Tory lackeys in the Coalition.

 

Although Salmond has played his hand well, the gaping hole at the heart of his case has been exposed.

He relies on the claim that the Chancellor is bluffing about the currency issue. Perhaps he is. Perhaps “reasonable logic” would kick in as the enormity of disaggregating the two countries hit home and the negotiations got under way. But the mood of English people might not allow it. They may say “they voted for independence, let them get on with it.” A North West MP expressed those exact sentiments to me at Westminster this week.

 

But what if against the odds the vote is for independence? The Bank of England is poised for emergency action on Friday to stabilise the currency, and there will be calls for the Prime Minister’s resignation. We would face the prospect of electing a House of Commons next May where 59 MPs would be leaving within a year. And that hobbled parliament is meant to negotiate our future in the EU.

 

Its a great time to plan business investment!

 

LABOUR PANIC IN HEYWOOD AND MIDDLETON.

 

Jim Dobbin was a kind decent man and we all mourn his passing. My condolences go to his family. His death put Labour in a difficult position. They rightly wanted to respect family feelings which would normally require that the by election writ should not be moved before the funeral.

 

But the party fear that given enough time UKIP might be able to exploit voters who feel “left behind” by modern politics in this traditional Labour seat. They wanted to avoid a contest where the UKIP bandwagon, flushed by the inevitable victory of Douglas Carswell in Clacton on October 9th would roll on to Heywood and Middleton. Now both contests will be fought on the same day and UKIP’s resources will be stretched.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SCOTLAND: THE GAME’S AFOOT!

Alex Salmond will be hoping that the Commonwealth Games now under way in Glasgow will help his flagging campaign for Scottish independence.

But just before the sporting contest got started I had a chance to catch up with him on his last foray into England before referendum day. Salmond seems to like Liverpool. Last year he got a great reception in St George’s Hall when he shamelessly played to Scouse antipathy to London by saying Scots and northerners all suffered from remote government from the capital.

He was at it again last week but the difference is the game’s afoot big time with the referendum now just eight weeks away. The Scottish Labour Party had brought down a red double decker bus with Vote No slogans all over it and parked it outside St George’s Hall. Batteries of TV cameras were in attendance along with BBC luminaries like Alan Little and Laura Kuenssberg.

He was speaking to a smaller audience of northern business people but the message was the same; Scotland and the North suffer economically from centralised government. He prayed in aid the former Liverpool Walton MP Eric Heffer who he claimed supported a young Alex Salmond in his efforts to get Scottish independence in the 1970s. Heffer’s successor Peter Kilfoyle seemed to be of the same mind. He told me he’d been on the Mersey Ferry earlier with Salmond who’d got a warm reception from the passengers. “If I was in Scotland, I’d vote for independence” declared Kilfoyle.

Salmond’s speech consisted of a battery of statistics designed to prove his case for independence but he also sought to address a growing anxiety that we in the North are going to lose out between a powerful Scotland and a dynamic South East of England. He had plans for high speed rail connections between the North and Scotland and wanted northern business people to cooperate in a cross border forum.

The Chancellor has made it clear that there could be no shared currency after independence. Salmond continues to insist that Mr Osborne is bluffing. It is the greatest weakness in his case and one that could be decisive for wavering Scots.

I have always believed that Salmond’s real project was to get the maximum amount of devolved power without full independence. I reminded him that he had wanted a third question on the ballot paper to accommodate this. He denied my suggestion that this showed a secret lack of confidence by the Scottish Nationalists that they could achieve the ultimate prize.

The three main UK parties have all promised further devolution of tax raising power if the Scots stay in the UK, so I suggested to Mr Salmond he would be a winner whichever way the vote goes. He replied that you can never trust the promises of English politicians.

The Commonwealth Games will fill the Scots with pride in what they can do for themselves. This will be followed by commemorations of the start of the First World War when Scots played a noble part in fighting alongside the other nations that made up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Then the Scots will vote.

WELL DONE WIRRAL!

Over 200,000 golf fans attended the Open at Hoylake with Phil Davies, the leader of Wirral Council and the Liverpool City Region, telling me £75m had been spent in the local economy.

Wirral Council staff were busy lobbying international guests about economic projects ranging from offshore wind to the massive Wirral Waters redevelopment. They are hoping for a major announcement shortly about a car components plant at the end of the M53 to service Halewood, Ellesmere Port and Crewe.

Along with the International Festival of Business promoted by Liverpool Council, our local authorities have done their best to promote the city region to the world this summer.