open Democracy News Analysis - Clegg makes the case for radical reform, Guy Aitchison - Comments

britologywatch on "Clegg makes the case for radical reform"

britologywatch — Wed, 21 May 2008 09:39:10 +0100

Yes, my comments about English alienation from the British parliament were perhaps somewhat overstated for rhetorical effect. However, I do think it's an important element in the widespread disaffection with Westminster politics: the English used to identify with parliament and the British state as their own; now, they no longer feel they 'own' parliament or that the British government represents their views, which is why there is a majority in all recent polls in favour of some version of an English parliament - ranging from an English Grand Committee right through to the full independence model.

See <a href=http://nationalconversationforengland.wordpress.com/2008/05/17/no-way-back-for-britain-federation-or-independence-are-the-only-options/>my analysis of this</a> in a new England-focused blogsite I've recently started.

Guy Aitchison on "Clegg makes the case for radical reform"

Guy Aitchison — Tue, 20 May 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Yes, thanks for that David. I agree, England is the proverbial elephant here (especially odd coming only days after Wendy's referendum u turn). Clegg will need to decide who his citizens' convention is for and face the English question head on if he is going to take this kind of holisitic view. But I still think this is a strong piece of analysis; both bolder and more honest than other politicians who've recently tried to tackle the same issues.
Where you say "the English people are alienated from Westminster because it stands for a British establishment they no longer identify with or assent to" I can't agree however. The growth of English nationalism and accompanying demands for political recognition may be a source of grievance for some but there's simply no way it can explain current levels of voter disengagement. IMHO this owes more to long-standing complaints about our over-centralised and unresponsive political system.

britologywatch on "Clegg makes the case for radical reform"

britologywatch — Tue, 20 May 2008 20:29:47 +0100

The trouble is Clegg is completely - and I mean completely - blind to the English and Scottish questions. Not a single mention of parliamentary reform needing to address the governance of the different nations of Britain. Come to think of it, there's not a single mention of 'England' (nor Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) in his article. It's as if devolution had never happened and Britain were still a completely unitary state, so that political reform could be decided upon and applied in a consistent manner across the whole of the UK. Certainly, Clegg seems to think that England is Britain: the Secretary of State for Health being the only person accountable for the NHS (no, the British Secretary of State being the only one (not properly) accountable for the NHS in England, while there are separate accountable ministers responsible for the NHS in Scotland and Wales); we need a new 'constitution for Britain' (what a unitary one, describing the relationship between the state and the citizen, including in Scotland or Wales - or do you just mean for England?); "debates between liberal and authoritarian models of governance for
which we as a nation are still struggling to find a clear language" ('we as a nation' = England? I think the debates are rather more clear cut in Scotland and Wales: politics being much more in touch with popular priorities in those countries), etc. etc.

Until Clegg works out which country or countries his programme of reform is addressing, there's no hope of it succeeding. The people - the English people - are alienated from Westminster because it stands for a British establishment they no longer identify with or assent to. Clegg is wedded to Britishness almost as much as GB; so long as he can't 'say England', the English won't be able to say yes to his reforms.

Clegg makes the case for radical reform, Guy Aitchison

Guy Aitchison — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:54:59 +0100

Guy Aitchison (London, OK): Nick Clegg has a devastating op-ed piece in today’s Independent on Britain’s political and constitutional “crisis” (what we in OK have been calling our “good crisis”). Better than any serving politician I know of, Clegg diagnoses the rot at the heart of the system, making a powerful and intelligent case for radical democratic reform.

He begins by describing the pompous and degrading ceremony that still surrounds our democratic institutions. This isn’t merely harmless, tourist-friendly fun he says. It masks a “crisis in which the public feel ever more alienated from, and angry towards, the political class. And a crisis in which Parliament itself is neutered by the all encompassing power of the centralised Whitehall state.” Read the rest of this post...