UNISONActive is an unofficial blog produced by UNISON activists for UNISON activists. Bringing news, briefings and events from a progressive left perspective.

Thursday 7 June 2012

English devolution back on Labour's agenda?

In a keynote speech today Ed Miliband said that the Labour Party had been ‘too reluctant to talk about England in recent years. We have concentrated on shaping a new politics for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland’ and committed to ‘continue devolving powers to English local authorities and away from
London’.
  Whether this amounts to a resurgence of a Labour Party regional agenda in England - which was disastrously derailed by the North East regional Assembly referendum in 2004 - remains to be see? The current issue of Red Pepper includes a radical proposal by Paul Salveson for an elected Regional Assembly for the whole of the North of England ‘to counter the economic and political dominance of the south east and build strong economic and cultural relationships with the increasingly confident and autonomous Scots and Welsh’ – ay-up that sounds like a good idea! http://www.redpepper.org.uk/a-voice-for-the-north/