IPPR Report on Rising English Nationalism and the Conservatives launch their EVEL plans!
All English Democrats will be interested by the Report of the IPPR:- "Taking England Seriously: The New English Politics", to be published on Tuesday, 14th October. The Report shows significant English demand for:- an English Parliament; "EVEL" (English Votes for English Laws), answering the "English Question"; English Independence; and ending the "Barnett Formula".
The Institute for Public Policy Research research results show that in mid April 54% of the English wanted an English Parliament and 15% supported English Independence.
Also on Tuesday, at last, a section of the British Political Establishment, which for the last 15 years has been all too happy to see English concerns about England’s rights dismissed, is coming out with a proposal which at least seeks to partly address the democratic representational part of the "English Question".
The English Democrats welcome the Conservative’s English repositioning as "Sinners come to repentance". We see EVEL as only the start of a political Dutch auction. EVEL, in itself, is only a very little move which constitutionally speaking is unlikely to work very well. Significantly it only starts to answer the least important part (representation) of the English question because it does nothing about providing an English First Minister or Government for all the English only departments which are currently controlled exclusively from the British legislature at Westminster.
The IPPR Report shows the need for the British Establishment to take the "English Question" seriously but their polling was done in mid-April. More up to date polling now needs to be done since the tide of English public opinion has moved on. This is partly in response to witnessing the exploitive, anti-English and self-centred tone of the Scottish Referendum.
An example of this movement is that The Sun on Sunday recently published an ICM poll done in England for The Campaign for an English Parliament which showed 65% for an English Parliament and 40% for English Independence. Even that polling was done before the Scottish 'Vows' by the LibLabCon trio!
A still more recent unscientific poll shows 44% (nearly 10,000 respondents) for English Independence:-
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/poll/15-09-2014/would-you-vote-for-englishwelshni-independence
This more recent polling evidence suggests that English support for English Independence may already represent a greater proportion of the whole electorate than the referendum support for Independence in Scotland!
The "United Kingdom" is now therefore at a critical turning point; akin perhaps to the Gladstone Home Rule moment, when Tory intransigence then doomed the long term integrity of the Union. If England is not going to be treated fairly in getting a substantial measure of national home rule, when Scotland gets total Home Rule, then English demand for Independence from the UK will continue to rise.
Robin Tilbrook, Chairman of the English Democrats said:- “I welcome the evidence of the Institute for Public Policy that there has been a significant continuing increase in English Nationalism. England is increasingly responding to our calls for English Home Rule. We have also long called for the end of the discriminatory Barnett Formula. English taxpayers’ money should only be used fairly for the needs of our People. If the IPPR’s research had been conducted more recently they would have found even greater growth in English Nationalism.”
Robin Tilbrook also said:- “I also welcome the fact that even a politician as hostile to English national feelings, as Dave Donald Cameron, who infamously said previously he would not even encourage English people to celebrate St George’s Day since he wanted to be the “Prime Minister of Great Britain and not just England” and who said he would “fight the little Englanders wherever he found them”; Even he has nevertheless been driven by however unworthy motives of political careerism to partially address the English Question.”
Robin, who is a senior litigation Solicitor with extensive experience of Constitutional Law, continued:- “The English Democrats are confident that, as a solution, English votes for English laws will not work for the reasons set out below in the Annex to this press release, nevertheless David Cameron’s and his Conservative's move will start a dynamic process in which we hope that the British Establishment’s united hostility to England and their attempts to break England up into “Regions” will be ultimately dissolved.”
“David Cameron is a spinner not a conviction politician and his interest in making this move is entirely as part of the political chess game within the Westminster elite.”
“David Cameron has done this not because he has any genuine conviction about the need to improve English democracy, but as a canny chess move to put Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg into political check. The legislative process will require their Parties to either come out in favour of this move which will damage their Party position in the House of Commons or to oppose it and thus risking a significant political backlash from the 60.4% or 32 million adults in England that identified themselves in the 2011 Census as being English only and not British.”
Robin Tilbrook
Chairman,
The English Democrats