Most Welsh bloggers will be aware that London columnists generally have their heads stuffed up their arses when it comes to their knowledge about Wales. Simon Heffer obviously is no exception:
The Welsh, the Irish and the Scottish all make a feast of their saints' days...St George's Day remains to many in England the equivalent of a bad smell at a tea party.
If by any chance Mr Heffer happened to be in Wales on March the 1st, I think it fair to point out that any festivities he may have come across were due to it being a Saturday and not, as he seems to believe, because St David's is an officially recognised national holiday. It isn't.
Mr Heffer's article quickly degrades from the subject of St George's Day to one that would have you believe that the English are somehow an oppressed nation sucked dry by the needs of fourth rate Celtic politicians. Apparently putting forward a measured argument for an English Parliament is beyond his ability, so much so that he has to resort to slandering the Celts and their devolved institutions. It's not even original, merely a rehash of a theme that has been blogged on ad nauseum by centre-right bloggers in England over the last year:
5p could be taken off the basic rate of tax in England if that subsidy were not sent north to succour Mr Brown's clientele.
Two words: Barnett Formula. And here's another two: Fiscal Autonomy. If you want to make any intelligent statements on how devolution is financed, then either mention one or both of these two, or alternatively shut the fuck up.
Devolution has enabled a new tier of overpaid, pork-barrelled and fourth-rate politicians to be created in Wales and Scotland. That cannot be allowed to happen in England.
Some of our politicians are, admittedly, about as useful as a chocolate teapot and as charasmatic as onion soup, but then that is true of any parliament, including Westminster, where there is definately no shortage of the pork-barrelled and the overpaid.
On certain days, so long as the Union lasts, the Union Flag should be lowered on the Victoria Tower of the Palace of Westminster and replaced by the Cross of St George; and the 529 MPs should meet as an English parliament.
They could elect their own English speaker and hold to account ministers from the majority party in England.
All matters that remained for the United Kingdom parliament to settle - such as defence, foreign affairs and money - would be dealt with by the United Kingdom parliament on days when it sat.
That sounds all straightforward and simple (rather like Mr Heffer), but if Mr Heffer had done at least a teeny bit of research he'd realise that the problem here is the final matter: money. As things stand many (if not all) of the decisions made in Westminster concerning where the budget is spent directly effects how much money is allocated to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (most of you of course will already be fully aware of this).
On that point let me turn to a more coherent piece
posted today on Our Kingdom by Tom Griffin. Whereas the use of PFI is being questioned both in Holyrood and in the Senedd, not so in Stormont, where PFI is likely to play a big role in the infrastructure projects targeted by the
Emerald Investment Development Fund. Tom writes: "Ironically...one of the biggest investors in the fund is New York City, which funds its own infrastructure by issuing bonds. At one time, Northern Ireland did the same:"
One of the first acts of the old Stormont parliament was the introduction of ‘Ulster Savings Certificates’ to raise money for capital projects.
The certificates were guaranteed by the UK treasury but otherwise the money they raised and the interest they paid were fully devolved. Ulster savings certificates were only withdrawn from public sale in 1991 and reinvestment of their proceeds continued until 1997.
As Tom says: "It’s a sobering thought that the financial powers of today’s devolved administrations are still lagging behind the Stormont of 40 years ago."
