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England ‘denied a voice’ and should be given its own Parliament urges former Downing Street chief

05 Jul 2021 2 minute read
Copyright Steve Daniels and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-SA 2.0).

England has been “denied a voice” and should be given its own Parliament in order to ensure parity with Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, according to a former Downing Street Chief of Staff.

Former Theresa May aide Nick Timothy said that British identity was no weakened as “politicians dismantled the institutions and constitutional arrangements that kept the Union together”.

“Devolution, and nationalistic policies pursued by the SNP and Welsh Labour, pulled the nations further apart. So too have different decisions made by the English, Scottish and Welsh electorates,” he said in the Telegraph.

“The problem is not English identity but a failure to provide the democratic, institutional and political voice the English deserve. Devolution to Scotland and Wales but not to England means Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish voters decide the government of England.

“If one day we end up with a UK government elected with no English majority, but expected to determine policies in England that are devolved elsewhere, we will face a constitutional crisis.

“The only sustainable remaining solution is an English parliament and English government within a federal UK, supported by a political culture that respects and cherishes pride in England and shows a more serious commitment to the government of England’s regions. ”

‘Subsumed’

Pointing to Westminster, Stonehenge, the Industrial Revolution and the Wars of the Roses, ick Timothy said that England had its own culture that was different to that of other parts of the British Isles.

He said that the multi-ethnic and multi-faith England football and cricket teams was evidence that “we have language, places, habits, customs and shared history, culture and stories to help us to trust one another”.

“This shared national identity means we can look beyond the narrower identities – racial, religious, regional, whatever – that can divide us.

“The problem with English identity, then, is not that it does not exist, nor that it is vague, nor that it is impossible to understand. It is that, for decades running into centuries, English identity was – with the tacit consent of the English themselves – subsumed into a broader British identity.”

 

 

 

 


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Mark
Mark
2 years ago

The Inglish have Westminster with 533 English constituencies represented. And England doesn’t have a voice? They have the loudest voice of all. Oh, and Nick it’s the England and Wales cricket team.

Rob
Rob
2 years ago
Reply to  Mark

Wales needs to have its own team

j humphrys
j humphrys
2 years ago
Reply to  Rob

Archery is the thing! Let’s get back to our roots.

Shan Morgain
2 years ago
Reply to  Mark

Yes but the English need to learn to separate their English voice from Westminster. An English parliament is essential.

Mark
Mark
2 years ago

How many times has Wales influenced the result of a UK general election in the last 100 years, twice?

Erisian
Erisian
2 years ago

Beter make that two: one for London & Home Counties and one for the rest of the god-forsaken isle.

Shan Morgain
2 years ago
Reply to  Erisian

Best of all return to the old Kingdoms – Cymru / Alba, Scotland/ Cumbria/ Mercia / Wessex/ Kernow, Cornwall/ Sussex (& Kent)/ London /and Iwerddon, Eire.

Gareth
Gareth
2 years ago

Stonehenge, English,I think it pre dates England by a long time. Man needs a history lesson

Mark
Mark
2 years ago
Reply to  Gareth

I believe archaeologists recently proved that Stonehenge was originally erected in Wales, perhaps we should demand their return?

Chris
Chris
2 years ago
Reply to  Mark

It was ALL Cymru back then

Kerry Davies
Kerry Davies
2 years ago

So to highlight “English” culture he chooses an ancient Brythonic monument, an industrial revolution disproportionately Welsh by nature and a series of Wars ended by a “Welsh” victory.
I do agree that the problem is not English identity. No identity, no problem.

Bruce
Bruce
2 years ago
Reply to  Kerry Davies

The problem is their complete ignorance of the history of Britain and Ireland.

Quornby
Quornby
2 years ago

The fact that England is not devolved tells its own story…. The assumption is that the English elites through Westminster rule and may or may not, at their whim, allow some functions to be decided elsewhere. Westminster is England’s parliament and Johnson did not just admit it…he gloried in it. How in the Lord’s name Wales can be content with a system that places her not even equal second in the UK pecking order but a distant and despised fourth with a weaker legislature than Jersey is beyond my understanding. No other nation on earth would tolerate this. As for… Read more »

Bruce
Bruce
2 years ago

The solution is easy: dismantle the UK, that way they get to have their own parliament.

Wrexhamian
Wrexhamian
2 years ago

No way is England “denied a voice” in UK politics; Westmister is England’s voice, with a few Celts thrown in. The very fact that the Celtic countries have little if any effective voice in Westminster was one of the reasons why there was a demand for devolution in Scotland and Wales.

Ieuan Evans
Ieuan Evans
2 years ago

Was this article written under the influence of drink? Or was it written by a mad man..

Chris
Chris
2 years ago

Yes absolutely England should have its own parliament.
Then Westminster becomes obsolete and we ALL get self governance

Nick Randall-Smith
Nick Randall-Smith
2 years ago

For me this is the key sentence: ” So too have different decisions made by the English, Scottish and Welsh electorates,”

Three different countries with three different political cultures. Either the UK goes fully federal or it becomes three different nation states, I think Mr Timothy has just made an excellent case for the later. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Last edited 2 years ago by Nick Randall-Smith
Stephen Owen
Stephen Owen
2 years ago

I am very happy for the English to have their identity and for England to have its own Parliament etc. that is for them to decide, but how can anyone say that England is “denied a voice” and that it does not already dominate the UK?

Penderyn
Penderyn
2 years ago

England has no voice? So why do Welsh people speak their language and not our own?

How can the greatest empire ever seen on planet Earth have no voice?

Chris
Chris
2 years ago

Poor old England. They have no voice except: Westminster; BBC; ITV; C4; Sky News; GBNews; Times; Observer; Torygraph; Grauniad; the Daily Heil; The Express; The S*n; The Star; The Mirror; The Independent; Lozza Fox; Nigel Farage; Hatie Kopkins; Clarkson; LBC; Towk Spowt and Towk Radio etc

Glan
Glan
2 years ago

When he states that when England ends up with no English majority but expected to determine policies in England that is devolved elsewhere etc is what is happening in Wales, Scotland and Northman Ireland all ready so it’s funny that if was to happen in England it would “face a constitutional crisis”

defaid
defaid
2 years ago
Reply to  Glan

Agreed, wholeheartedly. His anglocentric ignorance would be shocking were it not so predictable.

j humphrys
j humphrys
2 years ago

When you wish upon a star…………………

defaid
defaid
2 years ago

“If one day we end up with a UK government elected with no English majority… …we will face a constitutional crisis.”

Croeso i Gymru.

Yr ‘English majority’ presennol yw’r holl problem. Yng Nghymru, Gogledd Iwerddon a’r Alban.

Eifion
Eifion
2 years ago

It does show how broken the union is ( not that it was ever a union), when the ones who have had complete control don’t understand that fact and somehow feel hard done by.
For England see Britain and visa versa.

Shan Morgain
2 years ago

This is a GOOD idea. If England has its own English parliament then any other nation can tell it to butt out and speak to its own parliament.

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