UKC

The referendum is over, but the political engagement shown by all shouldn't be squandered.

In order to make what we've got work better for the whole of the UK, what needs to be done?

I'd start with

1. Proportional Representation for UK Parliament.

followed by

2. Gradually 'federalising' the UK. The end game would be UK Parliament decides on UK taxes, UK wide laws, defence, foreign policy and UK wide spending. E/W/S/NI Parliaments decide on E/W/S/NI laws local taxes, and spending. (The crunch points being how federal taxation revenues would be divided between the states)

Any other ideas?

In reply to 999thAndy:

Do nothing in haste.
The amount of federalisation we already have is resulting in strange anomalies: our (Welsh) kids can go to university anywhere in the UK for max fees of £3k pa; Scottish kids can go to university for free, but only in Scotland (I think); English kids and/or their parents are therefore worse off by up to £9K pa each child. That can't be right.
Or another example: Scottish opticians are currently earning a lot more than their counterparts south of the border, because sight tests are free for all and are much better remunerated. Now that's either justified on cost efficiency/health outcome grounds, in which case it should be rolled out across the UK; or it isn't, in which case why continue with it?

It seems to me that it's the South East that's different from the rest of the UK, not that Scotland, Wales and N Ireland are fundamentally different from 'England.'

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:

Very good points.

In reply to 999thAndy:

Making the West Lothian question a two way street (as Cameron has already alluded to) seems like a reasonable debate to have

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:


...


Indeed.

In reply to Rob Exile Ward:


It this really the case - or is it that they just have different problems to the north. For example, the north suffers from a lack of investment and jobs. But the south suffers from a chronic shortage of housing an excessively high prices.

It seems to me that local areas should have sufficient power and resources to tackle the problems that face them. However, national issues like universities and the NHS should be dealt with at national level.

In reply to 999thAndy:


We had a referendum on that - I voted Yes, the nation voted no


The west Lothian question cant be ignored any longer, but I can't say I know what the answer is. Would it be workable if the Labour party were directing foreign and economic policy but the tories were in charge of NHS/Education/Welfare spending ?

In reply to Chris the Tall:

"Would it be workable if the Labour party were directing foreign and economic policy but the tories were in charge of NHS/Education/Welfare spending ?"


Well, if it works for Scotland, why not England?

In reply to 999thAndy:
- Get rid of all this party whips Ayes and Naes rubbish for starters.
- Fairer selection of party candidates / less reliance on the old boys network.
- Bin the house of Lords.
- Design the system to encourage coillition governments, this is a better system and results in less controversial laws.

In reply to Bjartur i Sumarhus:

Because Scotland has a separate legislature with powers devolved to it -
essentially it already acts as state would in a federal set-up like US or Germany. But I can't think of any federal setup where one state is 90% of the whole nation. Would our existing parliament have a dual role - which leads to the conflict I mentioned - or would we have a separate English parliament, or several "state legislatures" ?

In reply to Chris the Tall:

But I can't think of any federal setup where one state is 90% of the whole nation.

I think Italy is close - it has a few regions that are "autonomous" but the bulk is run from Rome.

In reply to Chris the Tall:

No we didn't, we had a referendum on a half arsed transferable vote. I want to see every vote count equally, regardless of locality. MPs are already parachuted in to safe seats the system needs throwing out and replacing. Had Ed Milliband ever been to Doncaster before standing as an MP? ditto for Osborne in Tatton, and loads of others

In reply to 999thAndy:

I remember studying about half a dozen forms of PR. Should we have a referendum on which one to use - and if so which system do we use for the referendum ?

Also all forms of PR tend to give more power to the parties, and less of a connection to a constituency.

Sorry, but the great unwashed understand first past the post and the two-party system - they don't want PR and coalitions.

In reply to 999thAndy:

Peter Oborne hits the nail on the head as usual.

"David Cameron wants a British revolution. Announcing a Cabinet subcommittee to implement it is a farce"

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peteroborne/100286961/david-cameron-wants...

In reply to Postmanpat:

If you mean walks into an obvious nail and dents his scalp I agree

In reply to Offwidth:

How's that?

In reply to 999thAndy:
Somebody makes the point I was trying to make in a more coherent manner...and still doesn't come up with an answer

http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/sep/19/west-lothian-question-english-vo...

Or more simply
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/19/handy-guide-post-refer...

In reply to Postmanpat:

Not out.