Donald Dewar and Ron Davies always said that devolution was a "process, not an event" and so it is proving. The growing demands for greater financial autonomy for Scotland are clearly incompatible with the continuance of a funding system which makes the country financially dependent on England and this has created an unexpected window of opportunity for the government to look again at the whole vexed issue.
4 comments:
I agree, but that doesn't mean that the government will take this opportunity.
The relationship between Scotland and England is a two way street - and to suggest that Scotland is "financially dependent" on England is not something I expected to see on this blog.
In her latest pamphlet Wendy Alexander (who was Dewar's adviser) said this:
There has been debate about whether Donald Dewar ever said that
devolution was "a process, not an event". He did not use those words.
They were used by Ron Davies, then Secretary of State for Wales, describing the creation of the National Assembly of Wales. Though he thought Ron Davies somewhat cavalier with his use of language, Donald did not disagree with the sentiment behind those words. He said: "It would be absurd to pretend that ours is the last word on the constitutional settlement."
Anonymous, how many Scots are employed at call centres primarily serving English customers?
How many Scots rely on benefits?
How many Scots rely on public sector jobs for their livelihoods funded from Whitehall?
I thought it was obvious Scotland depends upon English money to maintain it's mirage of independence.
Scotland must hope that the English don't want a divorce!
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