Regular readers of the English Radical blog may recall a post made here recently (“ Clegg’s Green Mile”) highlighting the fact that the Lib-Dems were undertaking a taxpayer funded re-branding exercise in an attempt to reverse their well deserved pariah status which came with helping the Tories to power.

With this in mind, we cautiously welcome Nick Clegg’s apparent conversion to at least one aspect of English Radicalism, with his call for a Distributist “John Lewis” style economy, with greater employee participation, decision making and capital investment. This has been one of our core principles since we set up ERA in the summer of 2009, and is even written into our constitution.

We take a pragmatic view of this situation in ERA – when our website is full of good, practical policy ideas, it is perhaps asking too much of Oxbridge-educated politicians with no morals and no ideas of their own, not to steal ours. It's irksome when they steal our clothes off the washing line in this way, but we have the grim satisfaction of knowing that our ideas will reach a wider audience because of it, even if we do not get the credit for them.

As you've pinched one English Radical idea, Nick – why not have these other ones on us, and complete the set! Following the logic of encouraging greater worker participation and ownership in the businesses they help to run, why not allow corresponding voter participation and ownership in the political process? Just as a handful of supermarket chains dominate the retail sector to the detriment of smaller independent retailers, the centralised, all-powerful British government has even more of a monopoly in politics – so how about a change to devolved, localised decision making and tax raising powers?

How about allowing the EU inspired “Regions” of Britain to become a Confederation of equal partners along the lines of the German “Lander” system, who effectively control their national government, instead of the system we have of iron rule by Westminster? How about allowing binding public referendums over such issues as continued membership of the EU, the funding of £9 Billion of foreign aid every year, or our continuing involvement in Afghanistan? Most importantly, can we have a written constitution please, based on existing English Common Law, and not the awful Roman/Napoleonic laws of Europe?

So, Lords and Masters, we know you are still out there, lurking behind our shed, waiting to pilfer more underwear – but think on: it is one thing for a politician to call for fairer distribution of power and investment in the workplace, as it does not directly affect you, but unless you are willing to “walk the walk” and match these proposals with equal freedoms in the political arena, voters will see through your empty rhetoric. Steal our policies if you must, but you are opening Pandora’s laundry basket if you do – because once people get a taste of freedom again, they will want more.




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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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