Again I am finding a spare moment to blog this week. In addition to releasing that the phrase:
"a week is a long time in politics..",
does have some meaning since my last blog. So much has changed since then and this week's post is an attempt to rake over all that has happened in a concise manner.
The title of this week's post is in reference to a speech that was given by former Prime Minister Tony Blair (pictured) to the Labour Party conference in 2001. Back then the horrors of 9/11 were still sinking into the Western mind set and the hopes of a more peaceful world were now looking remote. At the time, I was 9 years old and had little realisation of the true meaning of what had happened. For all I knew, it has some very bad people doing a very thing.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
But its not 9/11 that I want to refer to here, its the words that Blair used:
"This is a moment to seize. The Kaleidoscope has been shaken. The pieces are in flux. Soon they will settle again. Before they do, let us re-order this world around us..."
Now Tony Blair was referring to the need to taken on the causes of international terrorism and poverty. A strange combination in my opinion! However I feel that these words are particularly resonant for British politics at the moment, in particular in reference to the continuing fallout from the Scottish referendum.
So this week, as stated previously, I will try and some up this fallout and its long term consequences for everyone in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The Morning after the Night before...
After pulling an all nighter to watch the referendum results come in, I got a sense that things were somehow reverting back to the status quo a bit. Whilst their was a buzz of uncertainty and the possibility of something having changed in the air.
As soon as the first result came in from Clackmannanshire (pictured) for the No side, I had a sneaking suspicion that it was going to go against independence. This feeling intensified with the following spate of local authorities saying No to Scottish independence.
Clackmannanshire went first and said No!
But then, Dundee happened. Dundee, the forth largest city in Scotland voted for Yes (pictured). This was expected as Dundee has been named as Yes City by pollsters and commentators. What cheered me the most was that the polls suddenly narrowed after this declaration, and an ember of maybes and possibilities was relit. If only briefly...
Whilst Dundee said Yes!
Then the chorus of No continued. I felt a particular pain after the Stirling declaration and the No result. As I knew a lot of friends and fellow campaigners who had been working hard for a Yes vote there.In the end only 4 local authorities backed independence: Dundee, Glasgow, North Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire. However across Scotland this translated into 1.6 million votes for Yes in comparison to the No campaign's 2,001,926 votes. In percentage terms this was 45% for Yes and 55% for No respectively.
As such many of the pro-unionists were relieved that the status quo had been maintained if only temporarily. Even the Queen (pictured) gave her purr of approval to the result (see link below).
A contented Queen apparently "purred" at the result for No.
http://metro.co.uk/2014/09/23/queen-purred-in-delight-at-scottish-referendum-result-david-cameron-says-4879430/
So what now?
Another person that was relieved to keep his country united and his job was the Prime Minister. On the morning after he addressed the nation on the doorstep of Number 10 (pictured). In which he acknowledged the result and pledged additional powers to be devolved to Holyrood (The Scottish Parliament).
David Cameron promising a "new politics" on the doorstep of Number 10.
This was in addition to changing the debate completely and move the discussion to devolution within England. A perhaps a pragmatic move to ward off any backbench Tory revolt in the Commons. But also pragmatic in the sense that English people, including myself, would want a fairer constitutional deal for the rest of the UK.
As such there has been a range of different proposals put forward for how to achieve this. From English votes for English MPs to a full Constitutional Convention on the issue. This has lead to a variety of statements and political stunts from both sides of the political spectrum.
Nigel Farage, UKIP leader and darling of the media, did a stunt in which he posted 59 letters to all 59 Scottish MPs (pictured). In which he tells them that they should not vote on English issues in Parliament.
Nigel Farage, a post box and the British media..
Now seeing as the majority of Scottish MPs are to the centre-left, I doubt whether many of Mr Farage's letters have left their respective out trays of the MPs constituency offices or gone the paper recycling bins.
In a similar vein, the PM has opted for a boys talk with Tory MPs at Chequers (the PM's country pad). As well as tasking William Hague (the former Foreign Secretary) to lead a parliamentary committee to thrash out a series of proposals before the next election in May. Now call me a pessimist, but I feel that this is a bit optimistic for any committee to achieve, especially in the run to an election!
In contrast, the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, Caroline Lucas (pictured) has made a call for a full cross-party Convention on the issue. In which not just English devolution would be discussed, but also issues of proportional representation, voting age and the House of Lords would be discussed. For more info, please follow the link below:
Caroline Lucas, Green MP, calls for a Constitutional Convention to discuss the key issues.
Left Foot Forward
http://leftfootforward.org/2014/09/an-open-letter-from-caroline-lucas-to-the-three-party-leaders/
Yorkshire and the Humber Green Party
http://yorkshireandhumber.greenparty.org.uk/news.html/2014/09/18/an-open-letter-from-caroline-lucas-mp-to-the-three-party-leaders/
Speaking for myself here, I think that we should have as a nation a serious discussion on our unwritten constitution in a mature and responsible manner. As not only can it allow for the widest public participation and engagement, but finally put to bed some of the uncomfortable political questions rattling around Westminster at the moment.
Until Next Time...
In realisation of not wanting to write reams and reams, I have decided to split this post in half and finish it off in another post. Although I do promise that there won't be a very long gap between the two half. So for now, over and out!
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