We have heard a great deal about David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ and the Con-Dem coalition’s localism bill. However the truth is, with the ‘Big Society’, we are only two steps away from actually having to store tarmac at home and repairing the potholes in the roads ourselves. Believe it or not this could actually happen! The truth is Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ has nothing to do with real localism and transferring power and decision making to communities. This is because localism will never work in the present centralised British state.

Currently when income tax is paid, it is basically handed over to central government. This is what funds our contribution to the European Union, finances our armed forces in foreign military ventures that do not concern us, gives money to foreign despots and countries that can afford to fund a space programme, and last but not least funds those expensive luxuries our M.P’s desire most. What’s left, after several other bureaucratic baskets have been filled is then handed to local authorities. The whole system is top managed, which is why those at the top use money on the items mentioned and the local care home closes down. The big bad Sheriff of Nottingham lives, but has moved to Westminster! Therefore, whichever way you look at it real localism in such a top managed system is doomed.  It is less Big Society and more Big Con!

As English Radicals we have a very different approach to this top managed system which rips off the people of England. We believe in a system which transfers the funding and decision making process of government from the top to local communities. Our system would be based on the highly successful federal Lander system, as operated in Germany. Here the main roles of government are decentralised to a number of regional and city states.

Proof of the beneficial aspects of introducing a federal system for governing England can be found by comparing the English city of Liverpool with the German city of Hamburg. Liverpool City Region has roughly the same population as the Hamburg City State. Yet the comparison ends there. Hamburg is wealthy and attracts industry, media etc. Liverpool, despite the gallant efforts of its communities and its proud history, sadly lags behind. This is the fault of the centralised British governmental system and not the people of Liverpool. Similar comparisons could be drawn with Bremen and Cornwall.

Here in England ERA believes in federal decentralisation to a level that is acceptable to local people. This would mean the people deciding whether to be governed by a County or City State/Province or possibly one based on a historic region, such as Mercia or Wessex. Each state/province would have its own directly-elected Governor, aided by a cabinet and a council of local representatives to supervise and amend legislation. The local representatives would be elected by neighbourhoods with community councils which are either elected periodically or are a Directorate of local voluntary groups. These neighbourhoods would be given a budget according to population and needs.

Ideally, party politics would be removed from local neighbourhoods with representatives elected as the best individual to represent the specific area, and not towing any party line. This would give power to the communities and less to political parties with one eye on their national fortunes and aspirations. For those that believe Government is not possible without political parties, look to Guernsey, an island where no political parties sit in Government. By promoting this system we would witness a bonfire of bureaucrats across the country, thus releasing further funding for local communities. This is what real localism is all about and it has nothing to do with any ‘Big Con Society’.

Finally let’s return to the subject of funding and how the new City, County or Regional Sates/Provinces would be financed.  As English Radicals, we believe in reversing the present system of handing tax to central government and then begging them for money to fund local services and projects. Instead we would allow the new states/provinces to retain sufficient money for services and projects, and then make a donation to central government for national concerns, foreign representation and defence. A re-organisation of lottery funding could assist this process. Perhaps this way, Westminster would be far more careful with our taxes and not allow them to be thrown away fighting pointless wars, funding the EU gravy train or giving it to foreign regimes whose leaders live in luxury and whose people remain starving.
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The Con-Dem Government and their nu- Labour predecessors have argued a lot over taxes and spending. However when taxes are increased and cutbacks made, it is often the poorest in society which are hit the hardest.

When considering cutbacks all the major three parties ignore two areas which definitely need cutting back – these being our membership of the European Union and the present United Kingdom. 

Our membership of the EU is well documented – and England puts more in than it gets in return. Membership makes no sense when trade agreements can be written, joint projects conducted and travel across Europe arranged without membership of the EU. The fact remains membership of the EU only benefits large global corporations who feast from the top table whilse the rest of us scavenge for crumbs.

Membership of the United Kingdom is something else which the taxpayers of England subsidise. Every minute taxes raised in England flow across the sea to Northern Ireland and over the borders into Wales and Scotland to fund their government’s. The fact is the other home nations have devolution and the taxpayers of England pay the bill.

When will the English people wake up to the fact that if we liberated ourselves from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland AND the EU, not only would we be able to do away with the proposed savage cuts to the English public services, but we would also be free to protect English firms from hostile takeovers (Kraft) and halt the imminent mass immigration from places such as Bulgaria and Rumania (and Turkey if Cameron gets his way). English independence is the logical conclusion of the current EU and devolution mess and the definite solution to the West Lothian question.

 

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Following the recent general election, the Conservatives could cleverly engineer a situation which would eventually allow them to achieve two things – form a comfortable majority government, and make some massive public spending savings without upsetting their core English vote. How can they do this? By biting the bullet and accepting they will never have a mandate to rule in Scotland.

There are now two democratic deficits in the “United” Kingdom: the perennial one of England being the only home nation that does not have its own parliament, and now the blatant Labour/Tory split between Scotland and England. The Conservatives returned only one MP in Scotland, while Labour won an outright majority with 41 of the available 59 seats.

Bad times are coming to Britain, the chickens of 13 years of continuous Labour misrule, plus the effects of the capitalist generated recession are about to come home to roost in the form of massive cuts, tax hikes and redundancies. One thing is worth remembering however – ALL the main parties, support the capitalist system which dragged us into recession and which allows multinational corporations and banks to dictate to national government.

ERA believes the United Kingdom is dead in all but name anyway – how can you call it political union, when the three smallest nations have their own parliaments or assemblies, while the largest one, England, does not? Westminster is the BRITISH government, and allows Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish. MP's to vote on matters affecting only England – a classic example is the third runway at Heathrow, deeply unpopular in south east England, but pushed through anyway by Labour dragging their Celtic MP's down to vote for it. 

How could the Tories achieve the aim of an English parliament? By being patient and not entering into coalition with the Lib Dems. The Lib Dem's only other option is to work with Labour, who are already discredited in the eyes of the English public, so to work with them is to be tainted by association.

Once the IMF come in and enforce the inevitable spending cuts and tax increases that have to be implemented – of which England will bear the brunt - who will the electorate blame? The Lab/Lib Dem government! It would not surprise us if another election has to be called within a year – if the coalition breaks down, Britain would be ungovernable, and a new mandate would have to be secured. If the Tories stood on a ticket of cutting England loose from Labour-dominated and state subsidised Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, they would easily secure enough seats in England to have an absolute majority in the British parliament at Westminster.

An English only government would do away with the Barnett formula, which is an English taxpayer funded, British government subsidy to the celtic nations for everyone who lives there – how do you think the Scots can afford free care homes for their elderly? Free prescriptions? Free university education? The Scots constantly remind us that North Sea oil revenue should go straight to Scotland – but who foots the massive unemployment benefit bill in Scottish, mostly Labour, constituencies, or the massive public sector employment wage bill in Scotland? The English taxpayer. We would be quite happy for Scotland to keep their oil revenue, if it meant they  used it to pay for all the good stuff listed above, that the English can only dream about having. The oil will run out one day, as things stand the subsidy never will.

By formally breaking up the Union, a new English government would only be concerned with England. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland would once again be separate self governing nations, and more importantly, self financing. A “Council of the Isles” could be convened once a month to discuss issues that affect inter-nation issues, other than that England would have little need to concern itself with the internal affairs of our celtic neighbours. 

We could say be patient Mr Cameron – another six or twelve months in opposition, and the prize will be there for the taking and you can deliver fairness to the people of England with the first steps towards a new independent English nation. However in reality, just as the leopard never changes its spots, we suspect Cameron’s Conservative & Unionist Party will not take the final plunge and dissolve this dis-United Kingdom. In any case, independence is just one step towards liberating the people of England. The other is delivering political and economic systems that inspire our nation, and which offer opportunity, aspiration and fairness. Sadly neither Mr. Cameron’s Tories nor any of the other political parties offer such a package. For that you have to turn to the English Radicals.
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