March 30, 2006
Then he tripped up and fell on his face, my how we laughed
Via Paul Linford I note that Robert Hazell has written the following in the Guardian:
Regional government in England is the only solution that offers an answer to both versions of the English question. It could help give England a louder voice within the union, and help decentralise the government of England. But defeat in the North East referendum in 2004 has raised the bar…Raised the bar? Like a mediocre hurdler at an Olympic pole vault competition Mr. Hazell responds to the issue with the wrong tools, the wrong approach and a complete inability to grasp how high the bar actually is.
How can multiple regional assemblies address any of the major constitutional issues that devolution has laid bare in the Union? How can, for instance, any regional assembly or group of assemblies contrive to address the advantages in student funding that are enjoyed by Scotland on an English national level?
How can any assembly realistically reduce prescription fees for the English on a national level? I doubt they’d manage it on a local level and even if they did how would they prevent people outside of their region enjoying the benefit via tourism? Would trying to do so even be acceptable? I don’t think so.
There are many, many other issues that imply that Hazell misses the point completely. It’ll be fun watching him trying to jump that raised bar but, when it comes to equality in the Union, we all know that he doesn’t have what it takes.
