Thort: I was quite sarcastic about lefties who were convinced a Yes would trigger all sorts of good stuff across the UK, but the No, or rather the preceding yes-scare, does seem to have shaken a few things loose.
Another thort: West Lothian question, Matt Turner answer.
England so big that I think a govt cld justifiably make almost every law a British law, bit like historical use of interstate commerce in US
— MJT (@mjturner1975) September 19, 2014
The West Yorkshire answer is “Bugger off!” but it seems to have been revised.
Speaking of West Yorkshire answers, here’s an idea. This is basically the Day It Rained Ponies for political obsessives, so let’s make the most of it. What about devolution on-demand? Say the Tories insist on EVEL as a sop. The problem here is that you might not want to live in Greater Wokingham. But part of a deal might be providing for, say, Southampton and Portsmouth, or Bristol, to opt out of Thatcherstan and opt in to home rule. Ponies!
(credit)
I was thinking of some sort of system where every ward votes on which region it wants to be in, then some algorithm is applied to stop there being enclaves / exclaves except maybe under certain criteria.
My number 1 suggested split:
1. London (inc suburbs)
2. London exurbs (e.g. maybe the South East region with a bit of the East Anglia region, maybe excluding some of the impoverished Southern coast?)
3. Everywhere else
Although I think the whole thing founders on
10 “The regions should decide priorities”
20 “Oh noes: postcode lottery”
30 GOTO 10
Also, the talent pool for politicians is not exactly deep.
Is it too shallow, or is the filter set wrong?
“Postcode lottery” is horrifyingly effective at suppressing regional experimentation. There’s also the implication that if region X has something that region Y doesn’t, rather than it being a tradeoff or something that region Y should work towards internally, this is something that central government should take away from both and impose standards. See that Eric Pickles “Binstapo” speech linked in more recent posts.
Politician talent pool: it’s an unpopular view, but politicians are badly underpaid, and councillors in particular. Whereas council chief execs are often extremely well paid. This is something of a side effect of global inequality; what is a mere cabinet minister in a London property market full of exported oligarchs?
Well, there is the question. On some level the answer must be that the filter is set wrong, but I am suffering a failure of imagination in imagining that the South East Province government in Guildford is full of the finest minds of its generation.
then, who would have expected to find the greatest of prime ministers as a social worker in Poplar?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Toulmin_Smith
He actively encouraged subscribers and accused gentlemen who did not subscribe to the photo-zincographic Domesday of being unpatriotic and benighted.
Clearly a yes.