tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post5784572010059379928..comments2024-03-28T12:23:39.665+00:00Comments on Coppola Comment: The English questionFrances Coppolahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09399390283774592713noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-74942249700964388192014-09-22T15:08:29.027+01:002014-09-22T15:08:29.027+01:00London is, as everyone acknowledges, very differen...London is, as everyone acknowledges, very different. It's excluded here because it's not running to the same beat as the rest of the UK, and certainly not the rest of the South. In a discussion about the political temperature of England, it's a different part of the South; when Labour were out of power int he 80s and 90s, they were never out of power in London.Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01098647093435230168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-50869236242943651602014-09-22T11:47:48.530+01:002014-09-22T11:47:48.530+01:00Frances,
You say “I get a little tired of people ...Frances,<br /><br />You say “I get a little tired of people . . . telling me that England has no culture and no history . . “. Tut tut. That’s not very PC.<br /> <br />Guardian journalists have been drilling it into us for years, and quite rightly, that English culture is cr*p, and that there are innumerable benefits for us to be derived from being “enriched” by sundry aspects of incoming cultures, like er, suicide bombings, beheadings, killing the cartoonists one doesn’t like, butchering members of other religions ISIS style, abducting schoolgirls and selling them into forced marriage or slavery, homophobia, pedophilia Rotherham style. I could go on.<br /><br />Don’t you understand how immeasurably superior the latter stuff is compared to Shakespeare or Jane Austin...:-)<br />Ralph Musgravehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09443857766263185665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-77567172939183968392014-09-21T21:03:16.450+01:002014-09-21T21:03:16.450+01:00>Labour would have won without Scotland in 1997...>Labour would have won without Scotland in 1997, 2001, and 2005 BUT I don't know what would have happened without Wales. That map shows the big town versus the rest split.<br /><br />Yeah, I'm astonished to see something so dense on a usually well informed blog...Joseph Harmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12295654531597630818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-46063212057707906862014-09-21T20:54:08.508+01:002014-09-21T20:54:08.508+01:00It does work, the superiority of the UK government...It does work, the superiority of the UK government would be set by definition, the size of the individual countries is irrelevant.<br /><br />That there would be some stresses between governments is generally good thing, not bad, as it means some issues will be exposed and debated rather than fudged. <br /><br />A fundamental problem arises only if the UK government takes responsibility for matters that could have been competently optimised if they had been devolved to the countries. <br /><br />This is not about the West Lothian stuff at all. That is a trivial symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. Some will maintain otherwise but only in mistaken optimism that they can make it appear they have removed the problem by merely reducing that one symptom.<br /><br />The issue on nationalism is a perfectly valid consideration. However, as everything is currently aligned along national borders (including the borders of England) that analysis can only result in no change or in extraordinary change.<br />Rolo Tamasihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10341653094833939600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-53627883276616809962014-09-21T20:18:42.995+01:002014-09-21T20:18:42.995+01:00"with only 10 Labour Mps south of the Severn-..."with only 10 Labour Mps south of the Severn-Wash, excluding London"<br /><br />"Excluding London" is doing quite a lot of work there. Roughly double the population of Scotland, or (roughly) equal to NI, Wales and Scotland combined. You can't just "exclude London". It's large, Labour, and pays taxes.Lukehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014996272817759191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-37267121750898143752014-09-21T19:23:49.277+01:002014-09-21T19:23:49.277+01:00Well, since the MEPs don't actually have any u...Well, since the MEPs don't actually have any useful function, they could do it full time. Frances Coppolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09399390283774592713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-16160879312602263652014-09-21T19:21:25.767+01:002014-09-21T19:21:25.767+01:00I completely agree with Anonymous 17.22. I completely agree with Anonymous 17.22. peezedteehttp://peezedtee.blogspot.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-6449057138080113032014-09-21T19:03:01.686+01:002014-09-21T19:03:01.686+01:00To rely on the geographic Map is misleading; sure,...To rely on the geographic Map is misleading; sure, the Tories are more dominant in England, but it's actually the South they're streets ahead in, with only 10 Labour Mps south of the Severn-Wash, excluding London. <br /><br />This is much better map which shows Labour's dominance of the North and London (I include the Midlands in this, going off Danny Dorling's work on the 'true' dividing line between North and South in England being that Severn-Wash.<br /><br />line.http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/2010_UK_general_election_constituency_map.svgDavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01098647093435230168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-14578113185661144982014-09-21T18:37:27.836+01:002014-09-21T18:37:27.836+01:00According to Social Attitudes Survey data, about h...According to Social Attitudes Survey data, about he only thing that there is not a clear majority for Scottish control of is defense. <br />To make this coherant, I'd add foreign affairs and, if a union is to mean anything there should be some redistributive function. <br />Perhaps MPs could abolish themselves and the MEPs could do this part time?<br />:-)Debra Storrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00709860197387717627noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-46546041060941965522014-09-21T17:43:15.525+01:002014-09-21T17:43:15.525+01:00Labour would have won without Scotland in 1997, 20...Labour would have won without Scotland in 1997, 2001, and 2005 BUT I don't know what would have happened without Wales. That map shows the big town versus the rest split. If we get permanent Tory governments in England, the big towns will want to keep their business rates.<br /><br />Do we really want different laws in England and Wales? It's easy to split with Scotland as they always had a separate legal system. Do the Welsh really want their own contract and land law? I'm not sure they do. Once you have separate and equal legislatures for England and Wales, that's what you end up with.<br /><br />Lukehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014996272817759191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-39899128491088310502014-09-21T17:22:41.497+01:002014-09-21T17:22:41.497+01:00So you'd have an English first minister and a ...So you'd have an English first minister and a UK prime minister - very likely from different parties. Who would have seniority? Obviously the former?<br /><br />Imagine a USA of four states - one 10 times larger than the others. Four state governments and one federal government. How could the federal government have authority over the government of the largest state? <br /><br />It doesn't work.<br /><br />"Scotland has twice the population of Wales, and both have higher populations than Northern Ireland: is anyone suggesting these, too, should be broken up so that Northern Ireland is adequately represented?"<br /><br />Five million is closer to 3 million than 55 million. English regions would be of roughly similar size to Wales, Scotland and NI. To avoid the problem of English dominance and a UK executive competing with an English executive (the latter would always have more legitimacy among the English).<br /><br />The overriding reason why I don't want an English parliament (besides selfish reasons of being an English Labour voter) is that I don't want to see more English nationalism. I would prefer it if we hadn't seen Scottish nationalism arising out of a separate Scottish parliament. We've broken up the British demos already - I wish it hadn't happened.<br /><br />I'm beginning to think this is just a disaster. We can't preserve the UK like this. Our best hope is that the English forget about the West Lothian stuff and that the Tories are unionists before they're English nationalists. Yes, it's not fair on the English - but there are 55 million of us. A Westminster executive is a de facto English executive. Try to rationalise that and the union unravels.<br /><br />PR at Westminster would solve all these problems. FPTP exaggerates differences in regional voting patterns. The Tories are underrepresented in Scotland overrepresented in SE England. Hence why a Tory government in Westminster lacks legitimacy in Scotland. Correcting that imbalance is the only way of preserving the union.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8764541874043694159.post-70729949063435012042014-09-21T16:52:59.382+01:002014-09-21T16:52:59.382+01:00Very good article,well reasoned.Cant see any of th...Very good article,well reasoned.Cant see any of the parties agreeing to it though, too worried about their own fortunes.Colin Wardnoreply@blogger.com