I was interviewed at short notice on LBC (radio station in London) this morning on the subject of an English Parliament and Scottish funding in response to yesterday’s IPPR report.  I was on air along with the Labour MP for Islington North, Jeremy Corbyn.

The presenter was quite hostile and declared within the opening 30 seconds that he thought devolution was a disaster.

I agreed there was resentment but stuck to the core message which is that MPs elected in other countries – primarily Scotland – were able to vote on English-only matters which are devolved in their own country and for which nobody can hold them accountable.

He used the “more politicians” argument to which I replied “not more politicians, different politicians”.  I explained that there are over 650 British politicians and if an English Parliament takes away three quarters of their work then there need not be more than 150-200 of them with an English Parliament taking up the slack.

Jeremy Corbyn, who supports regionalisation even though he admitted we don’t want it, spoke at length without interruption offered no justification for not devolving power in England.  The presenter said that if we voted against regional government why would we want an English Parliament.  I explained that the regional assembly was nothing like a national parliament and that what was proposed was little more than a glorified county council and that support for regionalisation according to the IPPR (jeremy Corbyn claimed not to know what level of support there was now despite the “debate” being prompted by the IPPR report) was stagnant at 15% and had been for over a decade.

It was a difficult interview and I was interrupted an awful lot (quite often arguing with something I hadn’t even said!) but hopefully I managed to put across a positive case for an English Parliament.

Drove through Middlesbrough and as it was Sunday streets we fairly empty and so we decided to target shopping malls and retail parks as well as surrounding areas. Newspapers we’re also posted with leaflets and joining forms.

Later that afternoon we thought it would be a good idea to head to Hadrians Wall to place the Campaign for an English Parliament banner along the wall at various spots. Why? Becaused we want people to be aware that England has a history worth protecting. By placing the banner at historic sites we hope to highlight the CEP’s message that we will go anywhere and everywhere until England has her own parliament!

Excellent Battle Bus coverage in York! Much thanks to Tim, Jenny and David who gave time and effort not to mention at least 3 hours of leafleting outside York’s Minster.

People were showed interest and were asking questions about the Battle Bus and the Campaign. It continues to have overwhelming support. A number of people took membership forms and all of us were able to discuss at length a number of issues.

The public house’s were also targeted and  the pamphlet continues to be well received.

On to Middlesbrough and Hadrian’s Wall…

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have leaked the result of an IPPR report showing increased support for an English Parliament.

Purvis: federal structure better for Scotland and the UK

Commenting on the IPPR report showing growing support for an English Parliament, Liberal Democrat Finance spokesperson Jeremy Purvis said:

“Liberal Democrats have long held the view that devolution to Scotland should be matched with devolution within England.

“That is why we argued in the Steel Commission that it is better for Scotland and the other nations in the UK if we moved to a federal financial structure.

“What we must guard against is a growing nationalism across the United Kingdom that begins to set the nations of the UK against each other.

“This is in no-one’s interests and only furthers the political agenda of the SNP.”

The Lib Dems have long held the view that devolution should be extended to England but certainly not that Scottish devolution should be matched in England.  The Lib Dems have been promoting regional devolution in England for years, despite massive public opposition to the idea.

Look at the wording:

Liberal Democrats have long held the view that devolution to Scotland should be matched with devolution within England

Not for England, within England.  Balkanised, dismembered and undermined.  Nine artificial euroregions with no identity, limited powers and controlled by the British government.  A glorified county council is no answer to Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish devolution.

As soon as Scotland qualifies for a major sporting tournament, we’ll have to return the favour …

No need to get shirty, England

Britain’s equality watchdog had defended “Anyone But England” World Cup T-shirts as “harmless fun” despite a warning by police that they could inflame racial tensions.

Trevor Phillips, the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said the slogan was “good-natured banter” that was unlikely to cause offence.

Earlier this month police asked Slanj, an Aberdeen-based kilt-maker, to consider removing a window display of the T-shirts because of its “potential to cause disturbance”.

The firm, which has stores in Glasgow and Edinburgh, also received a warning about a range of T-shirts with the slogan “Algeria, USA and Slovenia Supporters Club”, referring to England’s group opponents at the World Cup in June.

While Phillips said the commission would react swiftly to any serious evidence of racism, he said that over-reacting to “jokes” such as the Anyone But England T-shirts risked making equality watchdogs appear like “po-faced thought police”.

“I don’t think there’s any unpleasant intent in this,” said Phillips. “The point about sport is that it should be fun.

“I’m not going to get in the way of the usual good-natured banter, when there is no evidence that it is turning into anything more than that. People need the Equality and Human Rights Commission to be able to tell the difference between a joke and something more serious, and this is a joke.”

Andy Murray coined the phrase “anyone but England” when asked at a press conference who he would support at the 2006 World Cup after Scotland had failed to qualify. The tennis star’s reply provoked a backlash among English fans and he later apologised.

During the event, there were a number of racially motivated attacks in Scotland. In Aberdeen a gang of 11 men knocked a fan to the ground and repeatedly stamped on his head because he was wearing an England shirt. In a park in Edinburgh, a seven-year-old boy was punched in the head by a man for supporting the England football team.

Ross Lyle, of Slanj, which produced T-shirts supporting England’s group opponents Sweden, Paraguay and Trinidad for the 2006 World Cup, welcomed Phillips’ intervention.

“He’s got it absolutely right,” he said. “It’s a bit of fun. It’s football banter. There’s no malicious intent … We’re not a racist company and we certainly don’t hate the English — we’ve got lots of English customers.”

However, Stuart Parr, of the Campaign for an English Parliament, said the T-shirts reflected a persistent culture of anti-Englishness in Scotland: “It was probably intended as a joke, but does it hide more of a sinister attitude to English people? I think it probably does.”

Phillips, who visited the Royal Society of Edinburgh last week to give a talk on the future of equality, has been under scrutiny in recent months after four board members resigned from his organisation and criticised his leadership.

Last November, he denied operating a culture of “intimidation and cronyism” at the quango after being called to answer questions by a parliamentary committee. Dr Evan Harris, the Lib Dem MP and member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights, described Phillips’ position as “untenable”.

While Grampian police took no further action against Slanj, they said they would have failed in their duty “if we did not make people aware of the potential for disturbance” that the display could cause. The force added that it had “recorded incidents relating to nationality” and that it had a responsibility to minimise such incidents.

Rain rain and yet more rain!

However we managed to trawl the streets of Hull and as our route continues we are becoming more aware of the increasing support of the people. The people of Hull waved, clapped and nodded approval as we passed.

We attempted to get the Hull Daily Mail to report on the CEP Battle Bus but chose to decline even though all inside had faces pressed against the office windows!! How can the people of Hull be expected to understand the injustices they all face. Shame on the Hull Daily Mail for not having the courage to report on it. The question I keep asking is why not? Even the Scottish security guard who was forced to move us off site agrees with our aims.

Alan Johnson’s Constituency was visited and his secretary appeared not to understand the issues of having an English Parliament!!! I of course explained it all to her. Other MP constituency’s including Diana Johnson were also visited. All were given leaflets and invited to join the campaign.

Fantastic response from the people of Leeds!

Unfortunately both Yorkshire BBC and the Yorkshire Post were true to form and what we have come to expect from media outlets. Yorkshire ITV was not let off either!

Disappointed by the Yorkshire Post as they completely refused even to come down to their reception to speak to us. However we made sure they got a deafening blast from the battle bus sound system!!

The Lib Dem MP constituency office was visited and we were able to explain our campaign and the positive response from the people of Leeds.

Leeds has highlighted a very important point that when shown how we as a nation have been unfairly treated, they want to know more about how to lend support.

Early morning disaster! Banner gone on one side! After long hard work, one side repaired and the other replaced.

Job done and off to Nottingham City centre. Blasted all media outlets again…. great fun! Our Nottingham members Tony and Geoff had a great time travelling on the wagon and watching the crowds look round in astonishment!

Many leaflets given out and main historic sites visited and covered.

The media outlets certainly knew we were there. Nottingham people seemed to enjoy hearing about us and we noticed a number of people showing support.

The Conservative Club got a good hearty dose from the sound system playing Dame Vera Lynn’s ‘There’ll Always Be an England’!

After blasting Norwich Radio with the battle bus sound system they gave us a studio interview and promised to report at intervals during the day about our campaign. (Not sure that they did!)

To make sure that the other media outlets such as the BBC and Anglia TV didn’t feel left out, we blasted them as well! (A number of times for good measure!) What joy to see so many faces pressed against the office windows looking at what all the noise was!

Good coverage around Norwich and Green Party took a number of leaflets.

Thanks for to all members who braved the extreme cold to help.

(No pictures or video from Norwich, sorry!)

The first day of our battlebus tour dawned to inches of slushy snow and it falling out of the sky as if it were never going to stop. Nevertheless the Battlebus set out undaunted from its base in Colchester, Essex to the City of Cambridge. Other intrepid CEP members met it in Cambridge. I set off from a village near Hitchin, Herts situated on the highest point between there and the Urals. The roads were so treacherous that I took an emergency bag with blankets, water and biscuits. As I left the village going downhill cars were strewn about unable to get uphill and although I drive a heavy old diesel I decided to avoid the short route through the lanes and headed straight for the A505. As I neared the long downhill approach I was told to turn back as a car had spun out of control down the hill. However, when I arrived, having no alternative the road had been cleared and I emerged on to the A505. As I joined the inevitable queue to get into Hitchin town the A505 was closed behind me due to an accident. However the rest of the journey was uneventful. Len Welsh, one of our longest serving members, struggled from the depths of Essex on the train, which was variously canceled and passengers diverted. I finally managed to collect him from the station after a long session with Andrew Sinclair of BBC LookEast. This included shots of us leafleting on the street in the falling snow. Not many out in the weather but a spot outside the council offices proved quite good as disgruntled council taxpayers emerged.

After this we moved to the headquarters of BBC Radio Cambridge for another interview. Staff came to the windows to see the bus. Then a well earned warm up and a pint in the pub, where I took some photos and then Len back to the station. The bus moved on to make further circuits of Cambridge armed with a note of the address of all the Parliamentary candidates.

I attach a number of photos that I took. Note that in the car passing the bus all the heads are turned and the snow still sticking to the front of the A frame in the photo of the front of the bus.

There are now just four days left in the Power2010 online poll, and I’m sorry to report that Unlock Democracy and the Campaign for the English Region’s appeals to their members and supporters have had the desired effect of knocking English Votes on English Laws out of the top five reforms.

No sweat, you might think. But you’d be wrong. It is important that English Votes on English Laws remains in the Power2010 top five and becomes part of the Power2010 pledge. Because if it is part of the Power2010 Pledge then Power2010, and their influential partners, will lobby every prospective MP prior to the general election to sign up to the pledge.

If EVoEL is not included on the Power2010 Pledge then it will be used as a progressives charter to endorse every candidate that agrees with Charter88/Helena Kennedy/Power. However, if English Votes on English Laws is included then it forces all those people concerned with constitutional reform (including Power and Unlock Democracy – groups who have always willfully ignored the English Question) to turn their attention to the English Question. They know as well as we do that English Votes on English Laws will not work.

The fact is that we HAVE to get the issue of English governance onto the political agenda before the General Election because it may be too late to do it after the General Election. Power2010 is a good a way of achieving this.

The alternative is to sit back and allow the incoming Cameron government to introduce their watered-down version of English Votes on English Laws (which is a procedural change and requires no legislation) without any discussion.

We need to try and force a debate on this, and that’s why I have voted for English Votes on English Laws. I encourage you to do the same, and ask that you encourage all your friends to do likewise.

Further Reading

The Devil’s Kitchen: Power2010 (contains swearing)
England is a pseudo-democracy | Comment is free
Britons! Vote for England! | openDemocracy
Scottish Votes on English Laws | English Parliament online
Ana the Imp: English Votes on English Laws
Cranmer: Power 2010 – English votes for English laws
Vote EVoEL! « Britology Watch: Deconstructing ‘British Values’

The Conservatives have officially abandoned their English Votes on English Legislation (EVoEL) policy and confirmed that under a Tory government, MPs elected in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will continue to vote on matters that only affect England and are devolved in their own constituencies.

EVoEL was never going to answer the West Lothian Question but it would have at least officially established the principal that it is wrong for MPs elected in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to interfere in English affairs.

Scottish MPs will still be able to vote on issues that affect only England under a Tory government, despite David Cameron’s vow to end the anomaly.

Members with constituencies north of the border would not be banned from voting at the crucial second and third readings of bills on English-only legislation.

The decision has angered some campaigners, who believe it is wrong that Scottish MPs can swing the outcome of crunch votes on issues that do not affect their constituents. The issue has been a running sore since 2004, when 40 Scottish MPs helped the government push through a highly controversial bill introducing university tuition fees.

Cameron has previously indicated that Scottish MPs would be banned from swinging legislation in such a way again.

David Mundell, the shadow Scottish secretary, revealed that they will be barred only from the committee and report stages of bills, in which the precise wording of new legislation is determined.

“Basically, what we’re saying is that, in the committee and report stage of the bill, the committee should be made up only of members from England, or England and Wales if that’s the jurisdiction. That’s the point at which amendments and changes come forward,” he said.

To counter concerns that restrictions would create two classes of MP, he added that Cameron would allow Scottish MPs to vote at the second and at the third, final, stage.

Mundell revealed that the changes would take effect “in the first few weeks” of a Conservative government because they did not require legislation.

While the Tories regard the compromise as fair, it leaves them open to accusations of a fudge. Michael Knowles, spokesman for the Campaign for an English Parliament, said: “This is not good enough, and it is a step backwards in the Tory position. This does not give England what Scotland has got: self-rule over issues that only concern us.

“I think it will also cause considerable confusion about what constitutes ‘English only’ and what does not.”

Pete Wishart, the constitutional affairs spokesman, who does not generally vote on English-only legislation, accused the Tories of “turning in circles” on the issue.

The Student Loan Company is making 150 staff in Glasgow redundant and transferring another 45 jobs to Darlington.

The PCS union is predictably complaining about the job losses and calling on MPs, MSPs and Glasgow councillors to fight the job cuts.

There should never have been any Student Loan Company jobs in Glasgow in the first place because it is primarily an English-only quango.  Student loans are given to people studying at university in England to pay for the tuition and top-up fees they have to pay thanks to the votes of Scottish Labour MPs who out-voted the English MPs that voted against them.

Quite why the British government thought it was acceptable to follow the national insult of having top-up fees imposed on us by MPs elected in Scotland with the indignity of having the loans to pay them administered in Scotland and Wales where they receive grants to pay for their university education is a mystery.

The Scots and Welsh have profited from the English for long enough.  The Student Loan Company should close its offices in Glasgow and Colwyn Bay and transfer all the jobs involved in administering the student loan tax back to England where they belong.

The great saviour of the union, Gordon “Britishness” Brown, has left Northern Ireland having failed to convince the Northern Irish government to take on devolved police and justice powers.

The MP for Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath made it his mission to devolve police and justice to the Northern Irish government even though they didn’t want it and failure to come to an agreement would likely bring down the executive.

Britishness Brown was joined by the Irish Prime Minister to save the day, save the peace deal, save devolution and save his reputation.  The day wasn’t saved, nobody knows what’s going to happen with the peace deal, devolution is looking a bit iffy and he’s plumbing new depths with his reputation.

His dedication to insulating the celts from the British government’s disastrous policies on health, education, transport, environment, police, justice culture, sport, business, etc is admirable.  Sadly he doesn’t extend that same dedication or courtesy to the English, instead he puts an equal amount of effort into keeping England as the personal fiefdom of the British Prime Minister and the English people disenfranchised.

Britishness Brown has returned to his fiefdom leaving the Northern Irish government divided and apparently 48 hours from collapsing.  Of course, the simplest solution is to take the decision out of the hands of the politicians and put the question to a referendum but then they might come up with the “wrong” answer.

Just for once, the British government actually says England when they’re talking about England and what does the BBC do?  Replace England with “Britain”.  I despair, I really do.

Living in rural Britain?

BBC3 is in the early stages of researching a programme about younger people living in rural areas. We are very keen to hear from teenagers and people in their early 20s living in rural communities who feel that they have been affected by the recession.

According to the Commission for Rural Communities there were 9.8 million people living in rural areas of Britain in 2008.

Really?  Let’s just check what the British Commission for English Rural Communities’ website says shall we?

9.8 million people lived in rural England in 2008

I thought Winston Smith was a fictional character, I didn’t realise he was a writer working for the BBC.

A complaint has been submitted to the BBC, naturally …

According to the Commission for Rural Communities there were 9.8 million people living in rural areas of Britain in 2008.”

No, the CRC does NOT say there were 9.8m people living in rural areas of Britain because the CRC is an English department of the British government.

What they actually say is: “9.8 million people lived in rural England in 2008″

http://www.ruralcommunities.gov.uk/events/10bignumbersnovember20091

The BBC employs tens of thousands of researchers and journalists, why do ordinary people like me have to continually correct you on such basic things as understanding the difference between England and Britain when it’s written down in front of you?

England does not mean Britain, it’s not that hard a concept to grasp is it?

Edit:
The article was changed as a result of my complaint at 2am!

Hi Stuart

Thank you for your complaint regarding the figures published by the Commission for Rural Communities for England.

It has now been changed and I’ll send a note to the person who wrote it.

Andrew Marr, the Scottish presenter of the imaginatively titled Andrew Marr Show, used his BBC1 show today to racially abuse the English.

Whilst interviewing the actor, Mark Rylance, about his new lefty liberal hand wringing play about Englishness, Marr interrupted to say “There’s cruelty in the play but there’s cruelty in Englishness too”.

The following a transcript of the relevant part of the interview:

Rylance: I think it’s about the question of what is indigenous Englishness. I think it’s clearer to look at the Welsh and the Irish and the Scottish and grasp … maybe you can’t put words to it but there’s certain kind of things that are very much part of their nation’s character and it’s harder perhaps because of our imperial past and the nature of the history of England to be pleased or proud about being English.  We used to have at the Globe a lot of difficulty trying to celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday and St Georges Day without the National Front coming in you know?

Marr: Yeah

Rylance: And I remember Ken Livingstone and I think still Boris is trying to figure out how …

Marr: How you celebrate because part of this is very sort of dark and dysfunctional too isn’t it?  And I mean just thinking about that ghastly story from Doncaster this week, I mean there is a certain amount of wildness and madness and cruelty.  There’s cruelty in the play but there’s cruelty in Englishness too.  It’s not just an easy thing to celebrate.

Can you imagine the outcry if a BBC presenter had said there’s cruelty in Scottishness or Polishness or Chineseness?

Why on earth should we allow ourselves to be racially abused by a second-rate Scottish TV presenter for the British Broadcasting Corporation?  Well I for one won’t be – the following complaint has been made to the BBC regarding Andrew Marr’s racism and demanding a public apology.

On today’s Andrew Marr Show, Andrew Marr (a Scot) racially abused the English with the following comment:

“There’s cruelty in the play but there’s cruelty in Englishness too. It’s not just an easy thing to celebrate.”

Had any other nationality been described as cruel there would have been an instant apology on-air yet because it is the English he has made a racist comment about, no apology was made.

I demand an unreserved apology on-air from Andrew Marr on next week’s show for his racial slur.

The programme can be watched again on the BBC iPlayer here.  Fast forward to about 24 minutes.

Scottish Labour MPs no different to Non-Doms

THE double standards of this Government are legendry, but the latest outpouring by Sister Hattie Harman really does take the biscuit for downright cheek.

During questions on Non-Doms evading tax but being allowed to sit in the Commons and Lords, Hattie intoned: ”We are determined to make sure that we can’t have a situation where people purport to represent taxpayers in their constituency, or legislate in ways that affect taxpayers in the House of Lords, and yet not themselves be prepared to be registered as taxpayers domiciled in this country.”

What about the phalanx of Scottish Labour MPs whom the Government calls to vote on English affairs which do not concern their constituents?

Of course, that’s different. Bend the rules for Labour and screw eveyone else.

One Law for New Labour, and one for rest of us.

On Monday I asked Conservative HQ for an explanation as to why their draft education manifesto only says England once but says Britain or British 5 times when the manifesto only applies to England.  They promised me an email to explain why.

After 24 hours I still hadn’t had an email so I phoned them again.  The person I’d spoken to on Monday was on his lunch break so a message was left for him to call me.  A few hours later and still nothing – no email, no phone call.

So I asked the Conservatives and Eric Pickles, the Conservative Party Chairman, via Twitter.  Nothing.  So I asked again via Twitter and still heard nothing.  Then I had a brainwave – my Tory PPC, Tom Biggins, is bound to want some brownie points and he’s got to be in a better position to get information out of Conservative HQ than me so I phoned the contact number on his website which turned out to be the local Conservative Association.  They gave me his mobile number so I rang and left a message (it was switched off) which still hasn’t been returned over 24 hours later.

So I have today spoken to Stephen O’Brien’s office (the Shadow Health Minister) to ask for an explanation of the English health manifesto that doesn’t contain the word England and I have left a message with Michael Gove’s office (the Shadow Education Minister) and will ask them the same question about their education manifesto.

This is what the internet was invented for!  Your words will always come back to haunt you Dave.

An excellent attempt by the Guardian but they’ve got it slightly wrong – it’s not a postcode lottery, it’s a national lottery.  This discrimination is on the basis of nationality, not on your postcode.

Arthritis drug free in Scotland, but too expensive for south, says Nice

A powerful new arthritis drug is unlikely to be given to NHS patients in England and Wales because it is too expensive, but those living inScotland will be provided with it for free.

Tocilizumab, whch costs £9,000 per patient per year, has provisionally been ruled out on cost effective grounds by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), the body which assesses treatments south of the border.

But the body’s Scottish equivalent is recommending that it be provided to those in Scotland, fuelling accusations of a postcode lottery in UK healthcare.

Marketed by Roche under the brandname RoActemra, the drug targets an inflammatory signalling molecule called interleukin-6 to reduce painful symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, an auto-immune disease which attacks the joints and affects up to 646,000 people in the UK. It has been found to improve remission rates sixfold when used in combination with the standard anti-inflammatory drug methotrexate (MTX) .

In draft guidance Nice has indicated it is too expensive to justify. Yet sufferers of rheumatoid arthritis who do not respond to other therapies already have access to the drug in most of continental Europe. And the new guidance in Scotland recommends tocilizumab in combination with MTX for moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis when other treatment options have run out.

“This is fantastic news for people in Scotland who suffer from this disabling, life-long disease. However, it also highlights the disparities in accessing treatment between Scotland and the rest of the UK,” said Professor John Isaacs, leading rheumatologist at the Institute of Cellular Medicine at the University of Newcastle.

Ailsa Bosworth, chief executive of the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, said: “The SMC’s decision provides people with rheumatoid arthritis in Scotland who face a life of pain and potential disability another chance of combating their disease. We strongly hope that Nice will revise its draft guidance to ensure that people with rheumatoid arthritis across the country are able to benefit from RoActemra.”