So what next?
Hopefully it means that devolution in England is back on the agenda. What we don’t need is devolution that misses anyone out. We in the Liberal Democrats believe that no-one should be a victim of their post-code, yet if you are English at the moment, you are! The last exercise in devolution done by the last Labour Government devolved power in Scotland & Wales but left out England – that was a mistake and had led to a rise in far-right nationalist groups across England.

There has been talk about devolving power to cities or city ‘regions’ – is that word back on the agenda considering its been banned ever since Tory Ministers got into power? I think this kind of devolution would be a mistake if anyone was excluded from its benefits. We need to learn the lessons from what has gone before – giving more power exclusively to cities could lead to the economic decline of towns and other urban areas, and will create a justified outcry in rural areas – what about us? And even if such areas are covered within ‘city regions’, a lot of people will rightly say, ‘are we defined by our nearest biggest city?’. I can’t see the people of Walsall taking kindly to being part of Greater Birmingham! Sorry to those who have this idea, but you’ve got to respect local differences when it comes to devolution.

No, we need to get regional devolution back on the agenda. Currently Walsall sends 3 MPs to London and each MP’s journey is a cost to the taxpayer – the cost must be far worse for MPs from say Northumberland! Its time to be arguing for sending just one MP to Westminster, and keeping 2 back in the region to sit in a West Midlands Parliament. They would spend less time travelling and more time in Walsall seeing what’s actually going on.

Let me know if you think this is a good idea.

Thanks,

Dan Barker
Cllr for Short Heath