England Disadvantaged
Think England gets a fair deal? Think again! Here’s what the UK government spends on each country:
2007-2008 UK identifiable expenditure by function and country, £ per head |
||||
| England | Scotland | Wales | N. Irl | |
| General Public Services | £129 | £213 | £247 | £281 |
| Public Order and Safety | £487 | £439 | £490 | £688 |
| Enterprise and Economic Development | £96 | £214 | £267 | £215 |
| Science and Technology | £30 | £42 | £19 | £33 |
| Employment Policies | £52 | £55 | £46 | £104 |
| Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry | £74 | £219 | £114 | £295 |
| Transport | £323 | £552 | £303 | £318 |
| Environmental Protection | £147 | £196 | £185 | £135 |
| Housing and Community Ammenities | £184 | £387 | £193 | £439 |
| Health | £1,679 | £1,919 | £1,758 | £1,770 |
| Recreation, Culture and Religion | £119 | £203 | £220 | £226 |
| Education and Training | £1,278 | £1,455 | £1,322 | £1,475 |
| Social Protection | £2,938 | £3,284 | £3,413 | £3,810 |
| Total | £7,535 | £9,179 | £8,577 | £9,789 |
| As a percentage of Mean | 86% | 105% | 98% | 112% |
Finances
It would be indefensible to suggest that money should not be directed towards poorer parts of the UK whilst England is part of the Union. However, the movement towards a regional assembly in the North East of England was partly driven by the disparity between its funding and that of neighbouring Scotland. Indeed, taking the 2000/2001 figures, if the level of expenditure in Scotland had been matched in the North East, the region would have received a further £627 per person, an increase of £1.35 billion. This is a disparity maintained by the UK Government. Scotland received more money before devolution, it still receives more despite the fact that it can now raise money through taxation of its own people. An English parliament is required to address this affront to the people of the North East and other parts of England.
The funding gap (£/head) between England and Scotland has grown in recent years. In 1999/2000 it stood at £376, in 2000/2001 it was £627 and in the financial year 2006/2006 it had jumped to £1,503 per person, per year.
In the year 2000 Tony Blair said: “The Barnett Formula has its own inbuilt review in the sense that it narrows the gap over time.”
The Barnett Formula is in theory supposed to equalise spending between Scotland, Wales and England but there is no sign of this. England desperately needs its own parliament to fight for its share of money, not just for the North East but for all of England.
It is doubtful that a North East Assembly would have had the necessary political clout to achieve this aim. What’s more, it would not have addressed the funding disparity between Scotland and England. A North East assembly might have just succeeded in taking funding from the other parts of England instead of forcing the UK Government to distribute money around the UK fairly.
Representation
Ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can represent the whole of the UK at Brussels. Neither England as a whole, nor its proposed regions can do this.
In the House of Commons, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs can vote on purely English affairs and affect what happens to England, but English MPs are prohibited from voting on matters purely affecting their countries. This is because England has no Parliament of its own where people of England can decide things for themselves.
In May 2003 Scottish Labour MPs voted in favour of foundation hospitals in England despite the fact that the Scottish Labour Party had rejected them for Scotland where English representatives have no say.
In England there are fewer MPs per head of population than in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
Despite having achieved devolution, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland still have special ministers in the UK government dedicated to furthering their interests. England has none. The Scottish Office, Welsh Office and Northern Irish Office are charged with ensuring that their respective nations’ interests are represented within the UK.
Nationhood
In the event of a YES vote on UK entry into the European Monetary Union, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and all the continental nations of Europe would have representation provided by their national parliaments. England has no parliament so it would be represented by the UK Parliament. England will be the only nation of Europe without specific representation for its people.
Europe of the Regions produced a map of England that famously omitted England yet included the other nations of the UK. This is the reality of England’s situation. England is a political non-entity: The proposed regional assemblies of England will not have the powers of the Scottish Parliament. As John Prescott has commented “People do not expect the equivalent of a Scottish Parliament for the English regions.” An English Parliament is needed to provide parity with the people of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland because the people of England do expect that.
Without any democratic overall guidance in the form of an English Parliament the regionalisation of England will result in English regions squabbling over budget allocations, and fighting for EU funds with all the members of the EU. The result will be a Balkanised England – this is the end of England as a cohesive unit.
An English Parliament
Would ensure that the present democratic deficit operating in the UK was addressed. It would ensure that England has influence and that the people of England have a voice in the UK, within Europe and on the international stage to promote England’s culture, tourism, history and trade.
The future of England can be bright, whether it is as part of the UK, as an independent nation state or as a state within Europe. Regardless of which route we take we must first have recognition in order to preserve and codify our individual identity as an historic nation, this is only fair. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, quite rightly, already have this.
Please join us
We need members and funds with which to campaign. We have members from all political persuasions who care about the people of England and want to see them properly represented. Unfortunately many politicians are either unaware of what is going on or have a vested political interest in seeing England under-represented.
England was described as the Mother of all Parliaments. Help us to persuade the politicians of England to return fair democratic representation to England by joining us today.
16 Responses to “England Disadvantaged”
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Why is it “…indefensible to suggest that money should not be directed towards poorer parts of the UK whilst England is part of the Union”? Surely this is the root cause of mediocraty – rewarding failure by taxing success. If these other counries want to remain members of the Union they should pay for it, and if they don’t they should be allowed to completely take care of their own affairs. Certainly not be subsidised by England.
April 28th, 2008 at 2:57 pmThe Barnett Formula is NOT designed to narrow the gap over time. This is a LIE that is deliberately spread to take the heat out of this issue.
Joel Barnett himself has said that he has no idea where this suggestion has come from and that it is certainly not true.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:23 amEngland has disadvantaged itself. We the English have been too compliant and have been brainwashed over the years that it’s great to be British whereas the truth is it’s a pain to be British. We get all the crap from Scotland, Wales, NI and the erstwhile commonwealth nations without any of the perks. First we need to have a ruling that we have zero British members of Parliament in England and only English born members. Kick all the current British members back into their own British countries and let them screw those countries up. Next we need to repatriate all the British immigrants to anywhere outside England and take back our housing stock. Then we can review who we want to let in. We need to establish that we are not British, but English, and we need an English Passport. We need to get out of EU and UN and run our own affairs, probably with greater affinity to USA. I realise these moves don’t solve all the problems but at least it’s a start.
April 29th, 2008 at 8:07 pmi agree a couple of things;1,…the British are a pain in the arse !….2,we English need to thoroughly establish a strong minded group who will not compromise below a ENGLISH PARLIAMENT leading to independence !….3,I doubt if any british politicians will want to be involved,but if they are committed to Englishness & England as the, indeviduals in Snp P/C, personally i have no problem. We have an array of cardboard cut outs of ENGLISH MPs/POLITICIANS who wont open there COWARDLY MOUTHS !….EU is a bottomless pit of debt & people, only Politicians like the kinnocks , Mandleson,etc troughing a fortune
April 29th, 2008 at 8:42 pmEngland’s future should be determined by all those whose home and future is England – and that includes immigrants from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and elsewhere.
But I agree that there should be no place in our Parliament for those who do not identify with England and its people – including all the “British” MPs at Westminster who are so determined to discriminate against us simply because of the country we live in.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:14 pmWalter De La Mare said it best in his “The Listeners” (and beautifully)
“Is there anybody there?” said the Traveler,
Knocking on the moonlit door;
And his horse in the silence champed the grasses
Of the forest’s ferny floor:
And a bird flew up out of the turret,
Above the Traveler’s head
And he smote upon the door a secod time;
“Is there anybody there?” he said…..
(Note. “Traveler”; a bone fide domiciled resident making a one off journey to visit someone. Not to be confused with “gypsy”)
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:11 pmEngland should already have a parliament of its own. I totally support an English parliament despite the fact that someone like me (British) would not be welcome or allowed to be involved. This breaking up of the Union does little for people like me and I feel a bit displaced at times because nowhere is really home anymore. I am half English and half Welsh through birth and where I have lived. My English family is from the wonderful Devon and my Welsh family from west Wales. Where does that leave people like me in this new and broken down set of countries?
I could not really be involved in the Welsh or the English parliaments judging by what some are saying here and have said to me in Wales because I am a “mongrel” (only said by the Welsh I have to say). I am not 100% English or from complete “English stock”. This is the only problem with this situation there are a lot of us out there now who truly are British simply because we are a mix of English and Welsh or Scottish etc. English people may think someone like me would work to help the Welsh and vice versa if in parliament. How could we prove our loyalty? I do 100% support an English parliament with only English interests but am not too sure about stopping people who are not 100% English to be involved because then we certainly will never have a voice.
I do celebrate St.George’s Day, fly the St. George flag and have signed my support to the .eng domain, St.George Day holiday and for an English parliament. Does that show loyalty to England rather than to Wales or would I need to do more to be accepted by the anti-British lot? I guess I am a traitor to Wales now, LOL!! See, people like me cannot win and living in this country at the moment is very difficult indeed when you really are a true Briton.
Best of luck to you and I hope you get full power for England as it should be already.
June 11th, 2008 at 7:35 pmLittle Fire
Since you think it right that England should have her own parliament, you qualify for membership of the CEP, if you wish to join us.
Parity for England (with Scotland) is what the campaign is about.
June 12th, 2008 at 8:34 amLittle Fire
One of the fundamental principles of the Campaign for an English Parliament is that such a Parliament will represent all people who have legally made England their home regardless of how they identify them selves,unlike what some respondents on this blog seem to state. Thus the CEP welcomes everyone to become members. clearly the effects of devolution imposed by this Government have been divisive and in order to maintain any kind of Union such divisions, anomalies and downright discrimination against English interests must be addressed.
Scilla Cullen
June 13th, 2008 at 6:02 amChairman, CEP
One of the basic principles of democracy is; “No taxation without representation.” Now that Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have had powers devolved to national assemblies and a parliament the English taxpayer has no representation in these bodies and therefore should not be expected to contribute to the costs of these devolved powers, they should be paid for purely out of revenues received in those bodies own areas. I for one do not see why I should be paying towards the pension of the Scottish first minister. They should also still pay the money required for the undevolved powers at Westminster first and that should be in proportion to the percentage of the population of the UK that each region constitutes, in Scotland’s case 8.5%
July 19th, 2008 at 10:15 amWhere were you actually born Little Fire ?
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:43 amI’ve long felt that the only circumstances in which I have been able to express pride in being English have been international sporting occasions. To find that in fact sport is virtually the only sphere of activity in which England exists in ANY form or entity is both shocking and yet, at the same time, no great surprise. Whilst I am mildly proud to be British, I am fiercely proud to be English and self-representation and governance is long overdue for our unconstituted nation. Indeed I resent the fact that Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish representatives can have dominion and governance over us AND their own countries yet we have no representation at all as a nation, let alone any influence over the 3 other nations of the Union.
June 3rd, 2009 at 1:44 amThis is actually a scandal of far greater proportions than the MP’s expenses one that is rocking our “beloved” UK parliament to its core. One question, however – why is CEP so sparsely represented across the counties, with only 9 branches…?
I must say I have views about this that I think underpin the great English/British notion of fair play. Firstly I support the need for greater reinforcement of English democracy and culture and cherish my own Englishness as I perceive it. However, I also value my Britishness which links me with the other peoples of this island, regardless of their racial origins. I have always thought this duality to be a good thing. I am English and I am also British. It has been hard to differentiate the two for a century or so. The British Empire and spread of British culture (which was manly English-based) around the world with our language, literature, institutions and parliamentary democracy was a good thing in many ways – even if its delivery wasn’t always ideal. But this great adventure was a largely Anglo-Scottish affair. We must remember that. The Welsh and Irish also played their part (remember Wellington at Waterloo anybody?). I think it is essential that the Union is preserved, but modified to suit the changing times. I am a federalist. A strong union is what we need of equal partners – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (assuming the latter wants to stay on board).
I am not convinced an English Parliament is the only answer, although I do have sympathy with the idea. I also think there is merit in English regional (I would prefer the term ‘provincial’) Assemblies (moots?). This has not met with great acceptance so far because it has not been promoted or explained properly. The banal and bureaucratic names applied to the regions are hardly likely to spread enthusiasm – North East Region etc. We should be using the ancient names of the kingdoms of early England such as Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia and Wessex in order to instil provincial identities to these parts of Britain. The countries that work best to me are those that are federated like Germany or the United States. England could remain a strong and united country within a stronger and more tolerant and unified Great Britain just as easily with provincial assemblies as with a new national English Parliament. We are more populous than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We have more obvious divides between north and south which need addressing, just as does the overbearing drain on the whole country that London has become. Provincial power bases would address this. The biggest mistake recently was not the creation of the Scottish Parliament – but calling it a ‘Parliament’ rather than an ‘Assembly’ as they have in Wales. I think we should improve, revitalise, modernise and thoroughly democratise the Westminster Legislature as our National Union Parliament – but add regional or Provincial English Assemblies to it. However, as I say, I do see the argument for an English Parliament but ask its advocates how you would deal with the traditional problems of the North/South divide and that of people in Carlisle, Sunderland or Plymouth feeling just as remote form London as did/do the Scots, Welsh and Irish?
June 8th, 2009 at 2:37 pmFor those people who are “non white” or non native English. You should note that the English have integrated with ethnic minorities more than any other part of “Britain”. My own children have an Arabic mother and were both born in England and so are clearly English. My brother in law on the other hand was born in Africa and has to content himself with being a second class citizen, ie. “British”. He wants to be English and I want him to be English, but he can’t be English until he gets English nationality papers which is obviously impossible at the moment. We must put this right. Many of my friends are of ethnic minority and all live in England, I know of none that live elsewhere although I suppose there must be some in other parts of Britain. So for those Scots, Irish and Welsh who consider the English to be Mongrels then I am proud to be one and associate myself with people who have chosen to live in England.
July 13th, 2009 at 9:15 amSo here is a clear message from me, a very proud, white Englishman to those who are not quite white. “Join the cause and you can become English”, and you will be most welcome.
Howard Johnston: Regional (or provincial) Assemblies will not answer. Devolution to Scotland and Wales was presented to the peoples of those nations and voted on by them as providing to each of a forum giving political expression to NATIONAL identity. The English are also a nation and should have nothing less.
I am not sure whether you envisage that your provincial assemblies would have powers equal to those of the Scottish Parliament. If not, the West Lothian Question will not be answered. If so, it is a recipe for national disintegration – separate policies of Agriculture, Fisheries, Health, Education etc., would make the present ill-feeling between England and Scotland seem totally insignificant. Undergraduates from Yorkshire paying University tuition fees, while those in Lancashire do not (or vice versa), free personal care for the elderly in Birmingham, but not in Newcastle, prescription charges in West Bromwich, but not in Bristol, etc, etc. Logically, these are consequences you must be willing to accept if you want to go down that route. Perhaps you are, but I don’t think many people would be.
There may well be a case a tier of regional government within England (and, indeed, within Scotland and Wales), but it is not a solution to the democratic deficit which arises from asymmetric national devolution. Only an English Parliament will provide that.
As to Germany, the post-war German constitution was designed to emasculate what was seen as an overmighty Prussia. You may be happy to see England emasculated. I am not.
July 13th, 2009 at 8:20 pmWhilst i believe that we are a multicultural society and should stay that way, we should have our own Assembly so that we finally, for the first time have a voice in westminster but i am sure that the government will try to avoid such a thing because it would mean that England would be able to control our borders and all European funding for taking immegrants would have to pass though the English Assembly first which would then limit funds redirected elsewhere.I think the rise of support for the detestable BNP is because we in England are not only the first port of call for all immegrants entering Britain but also the last to be asked and the government are evasive to the amounts of funding given by the EU to take them.While the appearence of BNP’s leader on BBC’s Question Time showed that he had hidden agendas but other polititions were missing some important points, for example I remember not that long ago, taxi drivers were told they were not allowed to fly the George Cross on St.George’s day or face a fine!Absolutely ridiculous even on Question Time it was intimated that there are no English people left just British/Europeans and that is in my mind discriminatory against all those, regardless of creed or colour who were born in England as they ARE MOST DEFINATELY ENGLISH!
October 23rd, 2009 at 1:37 pm