I almost agree . Except that I’d put it that politicians want to delegate responsibility but not the power. Some years ago the voters of the NE rejected a call to have a regional devolved government. I think that was wise decision.
We’ve seen in Lancashire that the county council doesn’t have any say when it comes to opposing Fracking. That would be using a power which the Government doesn’t want to hand over. But complain to Government about the poor state of funding for schools and they’ll say it is a Lancashire county council matter. They’ll say that if we want better schools then the rates will have to rise.
In the UK it’s the central government which has the economic clout and ability to spend – if necessary by just getting the central bank to create the money. If they can do that to bail out the banks they can do it to fix the NHS too. If £400 billion didn’t cause too much inflation then, why should abother £40 billion for the NHS and education be a problem?
Lib Dems are probably the keenest in pushing the devolution idea but we should be wary of unconditionally thinking it’s a good idea. It’s a cover for Westminster government to hand what should be their responsibility to someone else who doesn’t have the same power to make things happen when needed.
I almost agree . Except, that I’d put it that politicians want to delegate responsibility but not the power. Some years ago the voters of the NE rejected a call to have a regional devolved government. I think that was wise decision.