english devolution

• The West Lothian question suggests that there is an imbalance of power if other countries have sole control over their own regional issues but can still vote on English issues in Westminster
• EVEL attempted to address the West Lothian question by reducing outside influence on English issues but was scrapped by Boris in 2021
• An English parliament would in theory end asymmetry in the UK but in reality England would clearly dominate under any federal system
• An English parliament would reduce the centralisation power but perhaps too much as Westminster's role would be greatly diminished
• An English parliament could consolidate English identity, but in reality there is little national identity compared to other countries in the Union, with greater emphasis on regions like Cornwall and the North East
• An English parliament has no argument for strengthening the union compared to weakening it as there is no prospect of England leaving it
• There is a lack of support for English devolution beyond a PMB in Westminster, even if one could argue that devolution has proved to work so far making it attractive
• In 2004 78% voted against a North East regional assembly
• Single tier local bodies in the UK are unitary councils which are newer and usually represent more urban areas and metropolitan boroughs which are older and represent more rural areas
• In double-tier bodies district, borough and city councils sit under county councils
• There are some combined authorities in the UK where multiple councils work together on the same level, like the Greater Manchester authority
• London has 32 boroughs which sit under the Greater London Assembly, comprised of 25 elected members
• Recent elected city mayors include Sadiq Khan, Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham