Devolution is back at the center of the political zeitgeist, pitched as the sensible middle ground between a decaying Westminster and the breakup of Britain. But what if the entire constitutional architecture—from Whitehall and the House of Lords to the City of London and British offshore tax havens—cannot actually be fixed?
In this episode, Aman sits down with author and longtime openDemocracy contributor Adam Ramsay to unpack his book, Abolish Westminster. Drawing on decades of Scottish socialist critique and years spent investigating dark money in British politics, Ramsay argues that attempting to squeeze social democracy out of the British constitution is, in the words of Neil Ascherson, "like trying to get milk from a vulture."
They explore why England has voted Conservative for two centuries while the Celtic fringe voted center-left, how devolution remains a fragile "lending of power" that the core revokes at will, why Reform UK is weaponizing imperial nostalgia, and why breaking up the union may be the only catalyst capable of forcing England to build a modern democracy of its own.
- What is "Westminster", really? Why treating Westminster as just a parliament misses the real machinery of the British state: an unwritten, medieval constitution combining executive prerogative, Walter Bagehot’s "dignified" monarchy, and overseas tax havens acting as the global plumbing for liquid finance.
- The myth of English left-wing divergency: Why polling reveals that English voters share the same progressive economic instincts as Scots and the Welsh, yet consistently vote to protect class deference, the monarchy, and imperial memory.
- The limits of Burnhamism: Why Andy Burnham’s first Budget failed to end neoliberalism—and how his intervention over council alliances with the Greens exposes devolution as a conditional loan from the center rather than true local self-governance.
- Post-imperial identity & immigration: The unresolved racial politics of Britishness versus Englishness, how media oligarchs use race to distract from billionaires, and why the UK political class remains unable to process the end of empire.
- Deconstructing Reform UK: Why Farage’s insurgent project isn't an anti-establishment working-class revolt, but a reactionary attempt to return to the pre-1970s imperial state.
- The democratic case for dissolution: Why Wales and Scotland wanting out is a rational reaction to decades of unrepresented Tory rule, and why an English republic will only emerge once the Celtic nations walk away.
Credits:
Presented by Aman Sethi
Produced by Harry Beney